Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Wash., and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns talk to the press before the farm bill forum. Said Johanns, “In some parts of the country, producers line up and say pass the same farm bill. ... They need to come to Washington state and listen to your concerns.” Mary Dye, a farmer from Pomeroy, Wash., was one of dozens of speakers at the farm bill forum held in Cheney on Nov. 3.

Johanns urged to overhaul farm bill

Scott A. Yates
Washington State Staff Writer

Capital Press - November 11, 2005

SPOKANE – In a press conference before the farm bill forum and in comments made at its conclusion, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns pointed out that two-thirds of U.S. farmers receive no subsidies and 90 percent of the subsidies go to just five crops.

Those crops are wheat, corn, rice, barley and cotton. Producers who grow other crops are operating in a free market and are very comfortable doing so.

“I’m not hearing speciality crop producers saying they want to be program crops. They need advanced research and more enforcement of sanitary and photosanitary issues, more trade promotion,” he said.

Although Johanns said during his press conference that U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs have received almost universal applause at previous farm bill forums, he got an earful about the Conservation Reserve Program in Washington state. Much of it was negative.

Asked whether the USDA was willing to stand by as the wheat industry undergoes what Northwest Farm Credit Bank President Jay Penick said could be a “significant evolution,” Johanns didn’t answer the question directly, but he said he didn’t like it.

“I have to tell you, I don’t think it is a positive phenomenon to have a direction in farm policy that continues to consolidate and therefore cause larger and larger operations and fewer and people operating them. I don’t think it is a good long-term policy where young farmers aren’t owners anymore,” he said.

At the same time, Johanns alluded to pressure from other states where there is nearly unanimous support for current farm policies.

“I wish I could take producers with me to all the farm bill forums. I think we could learn a lot from each other. In some parts of the country, producers line up and say pass the same farm bill. In three states, that has been the consistent message,” he said. “They need to come to Washington state and listen to your concerns.”

Although several speakers at the forum expressed fear about World Trade Organization negotiations, Johanns took the opposite tack. He pointed out that 95 percent of the world’s population doesn’t live in the United States, and with agricultural productivity growing faster here than the country’s population, “You begin to see why trade is very important.”

Johanns agreed that it has to be fair trade, however, and he said European subsidies at three times the level of U.S. subsidies must be corrected.

Finally, Johanns said, farmers must realize the 2007 Farm Bill will be impacted by President Bush’s target to cut the deficit in half in five years. “You just have to imagine budget issues will have some impact on how we approach the next farm bill,” he said.

Scott Yates is based in Spokane. His e-mail address is syates@capitalpress.com.