By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Funding for research, continuation of conservation programs, commodity price protection, crop insurance, access to credit and enhanced trade and export support are all issues important to Michigan’s agricultural community, according to testimony from 15 witnesses during the first public hearing on the 2012 farm bill last week.

More than 250 people attended the hearing at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Center on May 31, hosted by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. She was joined by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), the Ranking Republican member of the Agriculture Committee.

The hearing focused on the upcoming reauthorization of the farm bill and the policies that could impact Michigan.

It was the first field hearing and the second overall for the bill, which expires on Sept. 30, 2012.

In Michigan, one in four jobs relies on agriculture and it contributes more than $71 billion to the state’s economy. “When we talk about the farm bill, we all know it’s really a jobs bill,” Stabenow said.

With the nation’s budget situation, “it’s critical that we examine every part of the farm bill – every program and evaluate whether it’s working or not,” she added. “Difficult budgets also provide reason and opportunity to simplify and streamline programs so that they work better for the people that are relying on them.”

Witnesses representing a variety of agricultural interests each had five minutes to explain issues important to them and make recommendations about farm bill programs they believe should be maintained, as well as additional issues that should be addressed in the new bill. Stabenow and Roberts also asked questions of the witnesses and received their written testimony.

Clark Gerstacker, who grows 1,500 acres of corn, soybeans, sugar beets and dry edible beans with his brother on a fourth-generation Centennial farm near Midland, Mich., said farmers need continued access to affordable risk management tools.

“While farmers like me are eager to provide a safe, abundant and inexpensive food supply, we face increasingly tumultuous markets. At the same time that we encounter ever-changing market opportunities, we also face higher input costs, such as seed, fertilizer and fuel,” he said.

This market volatility, combined with unpredictable weather, can present a “’make it or break it’ factor for our crop,” he said. “The fact is that we are faced with the task of providing feed and fuel for a growing world population. We cannot simply sit out a planting season until farming becomes more profitable.”

For these reasons, Gerstacker said farmers need to have access to affordable risk management tools to better mitigate the impact of significant crop losses and price declines.

“This is why the upcoming farm bill is so important,” he said. “It’s not about providing income to the less than 2 percent of the American population that farms. It is about ensuring that the same 2 percent can continue to provide affordable food for the other 98 percent of Americans that rely on them.”
Michigan Milk Producers Assoc. President Ken Nobis, who, with his family, operates a 950-cow dairy farm near St. Johns, said it is critical current price-based support programs – portions of which date back to the 1940s – be reformed because they are not keeping pace with the costs of dairy farming. He added they are not providing the safety net needed to withstand low milk prices, coupled with high input costs.

To address this imbalance, the National Milk Producers Federation developed the Foundation for the Future – a comprehensive package of dairy policy programs aimed at protecting producer equity. This program would compensate farmers for the gap between feed costs and the milk price by providing a floor for producer margins during times of low margins.

“This multifaceted approach dramatically improves dairy policy and provides for a more economically viable and secure future for dairy producers in the 21st century’s global economy,” Nobis said.

Employing more than one million people, Michigan produces more than 200 agricultural commodities and products.

As the demand for food increases with the growing world population, the state is the leading exporter to major markets in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Central and South Americas.

“As I’ve said before, we face a great challenge,” Roberts said. “If we are going to feed a troubled and hungry world and be able to do that, we must have the base from which we can operate. It’s a national security issue.

“Show me a country that cannot sustain itself in regards to its food supply, and I will show you a country that is wavering and having problems.

“Our (world) population is now about six billion and it’s going to go to about 9.3 billion in the next several decades. That is an awful lot of folks to feed, and we’re not going to be able to do that unless we have the appropriate research base to give us the technology to enable us to do that,” Roberts added.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said research has “profound impacts” in the global society and the research agenda must “anticipate tomorrow’s problems, not just simply address the day-to-day economic issues.”

Representatives from the U.S. Apple Assoc., Michigan Sugar, Michigan Pork Producers Assoc., Michigan Forest Assoc., GreenStone Farm Credit Services, United Way for Southeastern Michigan and Michigan Milk Producers, as well as farmers representing a variety of other commodities, also testified.

“Fundamentally, we write farm bills to help producers in the face of real challenges and to conserve natural resources – to help real people who struggle to put food on the table in difficult economic times,” Stabenow said. “We help rural communities improve their economies and offer good jobs to their citizens. We help our nation take important steps toward better energy future.

“I don’t think we have any economy or a middle class unless we make things and grow things. That’s what we do in Michigan.

“Every page (of the farm bill) affects us because of the diversity of crops. I think it’s really terrific we’re able to start here.”