By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

CHICAGO, Ill. – Recently, Farm World extended the opportunity to the two major party candidates for president of the United States to share their platform relative to agriculture: immigration and farm labor, trade, “food versus fuel” and the environment.

What follows are questions submitted to Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrat candidate, through his Chicago press representative via e-mail earlier this month, and his answers returned via e-mail on Oct. 18.

All questions are in italics:

Question: Much has been written and discussed about food, fuel and environment and how they have come to depend on and are related to one another in availability and cost. As president, please explain how your administration would prioritize among these three, with respect to concerns about energy costs and availability (and security), food prices and security and environmental impact.

Answer: Energy, food and the environment figure prominently in my agenda for rural America, and given the growing demand for both food and energy, it will be important to address these issues in a way that recognizes that they are in fact interrelated. America’s farmers and ranchers are the hardest working and most productive in the world, and they have the ingenuity to produce an abundant supply of food, feed, fiber and fuel.

The policies I will pursue will enhance our food and energy security, and protect our natural heritage. My agenda for rural America will invest in a robust safety net for agriculture that targets payments appropriately and provides assistance to producers who suffer from weather events and volatile market prices – events beyond their control.

On energy, I know that farmers are pinched by skyrocketing prices and feel firsthand the effects of our energy crisis, yet farmers also know that rural communities are on the cutting edge of efforts to end it, and it’s time Washington stepped up to help. I am a strong supporter of efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by promoting the development of renewable energy, including biofuels, solar and wind energy.

We are already replacing millions of barrels of imported oil thanks to our successful biofuels program, and I recently established a goal to have 60 billion gallons of our fuel come from biofuels by 2022.

I am a proud supporter of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and tax incentives for biofuels. I’ll invest $150 billion over the next 10 years in our green energy sector, enhancing farmer profitability, injecting capital into rural economies and creating up to 5 million new jobs in the process – jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.

On this issue, I believe voters have a clear choice between me and Sen. McCain. While I support the RFS and investments in biofuels, Sen. McCain has voted against renewable energy at least 23 times and as recently as Oct. 1, 2008, said he would propose to abolish all agricultural and ethanol subsidies.

Q: Neither you nor Sen. McCain cast final votes on the 2008 farm bill. Were you in favor of it in its final format, or opposed to any of its provisions, and why?

As president, since you would be tapped to address the issue from an executive position in the next few years, what changes would you and your USDA secretary advocate to Congress – either for the next farm bill, or as something to address in separate legislation prior to 2012?

A: I supported the 2008 farm bill and both the bill’s Permanent Disaster Program and new counter-cyclical program, the Average Crop Revenue Program (ACRE). I believe it is important to provide producers with a safety net that targets assistance appropriately. This includes traditional farm programs, crop insurance and ad hoc disaster assistance.

I would have liked to see more reforms in the bill, but on balance I supported it because it dramatically increases funding for conservation and renewable energy development, importantly provides farmers with a robust safety net in these increasingly volatile markets and increases funding to fight hunger.

Again, this is an issue where I disagree with Sen. McCain. My opponent opposed the 2008 farm bill and said he would have vetoed the bill just like President Bush did.

I believe it’s important to implement the 2008 farm bill in keeping with the intent of Congress. The legislation is the product of more than 18 months of negotiations that attempted to satisfy a complex set of competing priorities. If particular provisions are difficult to administer or present technical challenges to the Department of Agriculture, I will work with leaders from both parties in Congress and relevant stakeholders to make appropriate adjustments.

Moving forward, I will work to ensure that provisions designed to limit payments to the largest producers are implemented in keeping with the law.

Q: If elected, do you have one or more candidates in mind for Secretary of Agriculture, and would you name them for us? If you do not provide names, would you still provide some information about these potentials, such as party affiliation and qualifications or experience in agriculture and/or administration?

Finally, do you or your potential candidate(s) have an opinion about non-penalty early release of privately-owned land under Conservation contracts, for planting or pasture?

A: My Secretary of Agriculture and all appointees to an Obama administration will be held to the highest standards of professionalism and ethics. More broadly, I will restore the basic principle that government decisions should be based on the best available, scientifically valid evidence and not on the ideological predispositions of agency officials or political appointees.

With respect to conservation of private lands, I have supported conservation programs, such as the Conservation Security Program (CSP), that serve as a resource to farmers and assist them with sustainable environmental planning and best land management practices. I will increase funding for CSP and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and will create additional incentives for private landowners for sustainable agriculture to protect and restore wetlands, grasslands, forests and other wildlife habitat.

In terms of releasing lands under conservation contracts, I strongly believe that contracts designed to foster environmental benefits should be maintained unless we face significant questions of food availability and pricing. This will ensure that taxpayer dollars generate the expected environmental benefits of the investments made in conservation contracts.