| Lugar expects temporary extension of ’02 farm bill |
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| By DAVE BLOWER JR.
Farm World Editor
PORTLAND, Ind. — As the Sept. 30 deadline for the end of the 2002 farm bill looms, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) believes a new policy is not imminent. He said a temporary extension of the current farm bill is likely.
“I think that’s very probably, since the bill runs out on Sept. 30,” Lugar predicted.
“We’ve not seen anything in the committee thus far – not a single meeting or piece of paper. My guess is we’ll have an extension.”
The reasons for the lack of progress are many, he said.
“For the moment, the farm bill situation is almost an unmitigated disaster,” stated Lugar, who was attending the grand opening of the POET ethanol production plant in Portland on Sept. 14. “Every subsidy, everything anyone ever threw in is about to be renewed. Plus, more money is going to be spent for disaster relief, which the government doesn’t have.
“Therefore, people are proposing new taxes. The farm bill could bring about a new tax bill to pay for all of it. At the end of the day, the President will veto it. We’ve come to the end of the trail with this, and still no farm bill. If that’s discouraging, I meant it to be. I think (the delay) is not necessary.”
The senator said he is working with Senate Ag Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and other veteran lawmakers to find a resolution. However, he said each senator is bringing interests from there own states.
Lugar said there is only one way to adopt a new farm bill without incurring a tax increase.
“We’ve got to cut out some of the subsidies – some of the payments,” he explained.
Lugar, who also owns a farm in Marion County, Ind., said he has 250 acres of corn that are producing well at a good price this year.
“We’re going to do well this year,” he said. “The need to have subsidies for corn farmers or for soybean farmers or wheat farmers is not evident. But I think we accept that in the Midwest.”
He said lawmakers from other regions are more demanding for government support.
“The sugar people and the cotton people and the rice people want every dime of it,” Lugar added. “Sugar is twice as expensive in this country because of these subsidies. That’s where you get the money to get back to some sort of market principles (in the farm bill).”
He said that special interests and projects for many lawmakers are also causing a delay for a new federal energy policy.
“We’ll have some more energy legislation passed after the two house come together,” Lugar stated. “Some people, such as car dealers, automobile manufacturers, oil companies and all sorts of people have different interests that they are bringing to the table.
“We’re going to have to come together as Americans and not as people who are specific parts of this picture. And, we’ve not done that very successfully, thus far.”
This farm news was published in the Sept. 19, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
| 9/19/2007 |
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