Bill Huffman
Director - Government Relations

The Friday Report

April 16, 2010

House Agriculture Committee to hold their first preliminary hearing on the 2012 Farm Bill next week. Chairman Peterson vows to push for a “more efficient” bill with a broad ranging proposal.

Farm Bill Hearing

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson has announced that his committee will hold a preliminary hearing on April 21st with additional farm bill hearings in Washington, D.C. this spring and field hearings in July.  Peterson is eager to get started early on development of the next Farm Bill, which he expects to have completed in 2011.

With a potentially difficult and complex road ahead for agriculture, especially with large Federal budget deficits, Peterson has hinted that the next Farm Bill could be passed via “budget reconciliation in 2011” instead of in 2012 when the current bill expires. The Chairman says he wants to make the Federal farm program more efficient by reducing direct government payments to farmers and using the money saved to create a better economic safety net. Peterson told farmers in Minnesota the other day that, “In my opinion, that money should be used to support the average, middle-sized commercial farmers, because they’re the people that produce most of our food and I think that’s the part of the system we really want to protect.”

Peterson also says he will not increase overall spending on farm programs, adding that he is willing to cut spending in the Farm Bill only if all government programs are trimmed as part of budget reconciliation.

It remains to be seen if commodity groups are listening to the Chairman, especially with respect to what many in Washington say will happen next year (after the November elections) when Congress is expected to dive into major “budget reconciliation” and potentially large budgetary cuts to many programs in an attempt to get a handle on the large Federal deficit. Agriculture will be one of those segments in the Federal budget that will be in the spotlight as Congress looks for savings.

Water Situation Continues to Improve

The water situation continues to improve slightly in the San Joaquin Valley. Congressman Dennis Cardoza said today, “I am very appreciative of the additional 5% allocation of Federal water announced April 15th for the San Joaquin Valley. That extra water will bring deliveries up to 30% of normal and the expectation is that the Bureau of Reclamation will be able to possibly raise the deliveries another 8-10% as the water supply situation improves.”

Water district managers in the San Joaquin Valley continue to say that farmers in that region of the Central Valley need a minimum allocation of 40 percent to make supplies last through this irrigation season.