The National Grange Agriculture Committee Focuses on
2007 Farm Bill

(Springfield, IL) – Delegates at the 140th annual National Grange convention, recently held in Springfield IL, approved a number of resolutions recommending Congressional action on the 2007 Farm Bill. The 2007 Farm Bill will dictate national farm programs and strongly influence producer production and marketing decisions for at least next 5 years. Among other issues, the National Grange is requesting that Congress take a serious look at the method for milk pricing to reflect a reasonable margin of return on farmers’ investment and to provide for a reasonable living standard. National Grange delegates are also opposing any proposal that calls for a “milk tax” or cuts in commodity payments. Other recommended provisions of the future Farm Bill include requiring import and export policies that ensure a level playing field for all producers, price support payments paid on a counter cyclical basis increasing the per unit payment to the producers suffering the largest loss below the normal yield, and reducing the per unit payment for producers whose production is over a normal yield.

National Grange delegates are encouraging Congress to continue and expand the Conservation Security Program (CSP), and are supporting use of federal farm disaster payments only if federal crop revenue coverage insurance is not available. They are also recommending that Congress create a new farm savings account plan that would allow deposit of pre-tax dollars for future use to offset farm expenses. Additionally, the delegates voted in favor of increasing the wheat target price to $5.29 per bushel, and direct payments to $1.19 per bushel in the 2007 farm bill.

The National Grange supports implementation of a national animal identification program for livestock and poultry. One of the strong tenets of the program supported by the organization’s members is that strict privacy protection must be included in the national identification program at all levels of government. To help ensure open international trade, the National Grange believes there should be an animal trace-back framework developed and administered by the USDA in case of a health emergency. Finally, the delegates supported changes to the proposed Farm Bill that would encourage greater reliance on conservation payment programs and explore other types of payments via block grants for states in the proposed 2007 Farm Bill.