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by Susie Taylor

Funding for the 2002 Farm Bill, which took more than two years of negotiation and compromise to develop, could be in jeopardy if the U.S. House’s version of the 2004 federal budget is approved by lawmakers.

But Farm Bureau officials from throughout the country, including OFBF’s First Vice President Bob Peterson and Government Affairs Vice President Keith Stimpert, held an emergency "fly-in" on April 2 to blitz the Capitol with information on how such cuts could impact agriculture.

"I just finished signing up for this farm program on Monday (March 31), and here it is Wednesday (April 2) and I’m in Washington trying to make sure what I signed up for will still be funded," Peterson said of the fly-in.

Both houses of Congress have offered their own versions of a fiscal year 2004 budget resolution. The House-passed version includes cuts in agriculture of $18.6 billion over 10 years, while the Senate version includes no cuts, but changes payment limitations.

Stimpert cautioned that the entire budget process is in its early stages. "But it’s important that we get a reasonable starting point, and that’s why we were in Washington," he said.

Of the two houses’ versions, the House budget resolution gives cause for most concern, Stimpert said. It makes cuts of $600 million in FY04, $5.5 billion from FY04 to FY08 and a total of $18.6 billion for FY04 through FY13. According to information from the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) agriculture cuts must be taken from three programs: the farm bill, crop insurance and nutrition programs.

"Where those cuts come from will be all up in the air until the entire compromise is hammered out," Stimpert said. "There’s no way a conference committee would make cuts in one area and put it on the shelf until the end of negotiations. Everything is out on the table until a conference compromise is determined."

Farm Bureau’s message on Capitol Hill was clear, Peterson said. "We’ve got to give this Farm Bill a chance to work. Let’s face it, in the rural counties of the United States, the farm bill is an economic stimulus package."

Peterson added that Farm Bureau officials are well aware that the federal government faces economic uncertainty in light of the war in Iraq, "and we want to be supportive of our president and his administration," he said. "But we’d still like to see Congress allow this Farm Bill to do what it was meant to do."

In a letter to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives, American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman wrote: "Changes in farm bill programs would be devastating not only to farmers and ranchers but the rural economy as well."

He said: "Unfavorable weather conditions, uncertainties involved with international trade, the value of the dollar and record-high input costs have converged to produce a turbulent and difficult time for agriculture. The industry has suffered through several consecutive years of historically low market prices and weather disasters. The (Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA)) helps address problems faced by American farmers and ranchers and it provides unprecedented funds for our nation’s conservation needs. … We (AFBF) ask you to vote against the pending budget resolution unless it is changed to allow for full funding for FSRIA."

Farm Bureau will continue to be involved throughout the budget conference committee process, Stimpert said. "The agriculture budget will be one of our key issues so as we go through the conference committee, Farm Bureau’s voice will definitely be heard."