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U.S. Sen. Harkin: Agriculture research, international food aid and supports for beginning farmers clear farm bill conference committee
4/15/2008

Contact: Kate Cyrul / Jennifer Mullin
202-224-3254

Conference Committee Chairman Announces Approval of Credit, Research and Trade Titles

Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate-House conference committee on the farm bill, today announced that the committee had approved three major titles of the bill: credit, research and trade. Staff for committee members continues to work through a few remaining issues in each title, which are expected to be resolved.

“The farm bill conference committee continues to work toward completion of this farm bill,” said Harkin. “The adoption of these three titles moves toward our overall goal of passing a strong, national bill. These are critical investments that will bring funding and good policy for agriculture research, international food aid and support for beginning farmers to meet needs in agriculture and the changing economy.”

Highlights of the conference report titles include:

Credit Title:

“The challenges beginning farmers and ranchers face are immense: the cost of land and equipment, obtaining credit, turning a profit and building equity in a highly uncertain business are just a few. The future health and viability of agriculture and our nation’s food system will depend on public polices that provide the next generation of farmers and ranchers the tools they need to enter farming and ranching successfully. This farm bill ensures the next generation of farmers with a strong credit title.” – Chairman Tom Harkin

· Beginning Farmer and Rancher Down Payment Loan Program: Several improvements are made to the Down Payment Loan Program to make the program more attractive to beginning farmers and ranchers. Promoting wider use of this program helps spread limited federal dollars to more borrowers since the down payment loan utilizes the resources of a beginning farmer, FSA, and commercial lender. Socially disadvantaged farmers are added as eligible.

· Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Accounts Pilot Program: A new pilot program is established to promote matched savings accounts, the proceeds of which may be used on capital expenditures for a farm or ranch operation, including purchases of land, buildings, or livestock. The proposed program would be administered through the Farm Service Agency and include at least 15 state pilot programs.

· Beginning Farmer Land Contract Pilot Project: The Land Contract guaranteed loan pilot program is made permanent and applied nationwide to encourage private land sales that transfer farms from retiring farmers to new farmers.

· Direct and Guaranteed Loan Fund Set-Asides and Inventory Land Sales Preferences: The loan fund set asides for beginning farmers and ranchers in the direct and guaranteed loan programs are increased to provide greater opportunities for beginning framers and ranchers.

· Direct Loan Limits and Loan Authorization Levels: The direct farm ownership and operating loan limitations are increased for the first time in two decades. The loan level is now set at $300,000 for either loan. Also, the Loan Authorization for the direct farm programs is increased to reflect the new loan limits.

Research Title:

“Agricultural research, extension and education programs are the foundation for the success of the U.S. agriculture sector and farming and rural communities, and for the nutritional well-being of all consumers of U.S. food products. But despite their importance, funding has remained essentially flat in inflation-adjusted dollars over the past 20 years. The farm bill addresses that need with forward-looking policy for USDA.” – Chairman Tom Harkin

• National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA): The farm bill creates a new institute with the purpose of strengthening competitive agricultural research and focusing on the capacity needs of the agricultural research system to deliver research results. All of the authorities under the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) are transferred to NIFA. However, the re-structuring of NIFA gives USDA’s extramural funding agency additional visibility, independence, and scientific credibility.

• Office within the Under Secretary of Research, Education and Economics: The farm bill creates a new office, the Research, Education and Extension Office, to coordinate programs and activities across the various research agencies at the Department. This office provides a central office at the Department to provide additional focus to the activities at the research agencies, to enhance multi-agency collaboration, and to increase outreach to the stakeholders of the ag research, extension and education system.

• New Opportunities: The farm bill builds support for our land-grant university system through new research authorities and increased acces to funding for minority-serving land-grant institutions.

Trade Title:

“From ensuring a country’s ability to respond to a food emergency to promoting exportation of U.S. fruits and vegetables, the trade title plays a vital role in U.S. agriculture. Our forward-looking farm bill ensures U.S. agricultural trade keeps up with ever-changing global needs.” – Chairman Tom Harkin

• U.S. International Food Aid: The conference report trade title includes significant reforms to the operation and oversight of international food aid programs, addressing many of the shortcomings identified such as lack of attention to food aid quality and inadequate assessment of development assistance programs in the April 2007 GAO report on those programs. It also enhances the ability of the U.S. government to pre-position U.S. commodities in overseas warehouses, thus allowing faster food delivery to countries facing dire emergencies.

• Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust: The conference report trade title reforms the operation of the Trust to make it clear that it is available to be used as the first resort when funding for humanitarian emergencies is needed. The President announced yesterday a $200 million draw-down of the Trust to help address the shortage of food aid because of sharply higher commodity prices.

• Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops: The farm bill contains a significant expansion of funding for TASC, increasing from its current $2 million annually to $10 million annually by 2012. This provision represents just one piece of the significant investment this farm bill will make in helping the specialty crop industry in this country.

• The trade title of the conference report will also include reforms of the export credit guarantee programs, and reauthorization of the Market Access Program, Foreign Market Development Program, and the Emerging Markets and Facilities Loan Guarantee program.




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