Farmers in GFB’s 6th district share farm bill concerns

Laurens County Farm Bureau Director Elliot Harrison (standing) was one of about 100 farmers who attended a Farm Bill Forum hosted by Dodge County Farm Bureau. Harrison asked the panel about the timeline for implementing the National Animal Identification Program.

Farmers attending a farm bill forum hosted by the Dodge County Farm Bureau and Eastman-Dodge Chamber of Commerce, August 10, voiced their desire to see the current farm bill extended.

“Farmers can’t farm without a farm bill. I think most farmers would like to see a five year extension of the current farm bill,” Dodge County Farm Bureau President Johnny Johnson said. “I’m concerned about the overall picture. If we get dependent on foreign countries for food the way we are dependent on them for oil, we can hang it all up.”

About 100 farmers from across Georgia Farm Bureau’s 6th District attended the forum where state and national elected officials and their representatives answered questions regarding the farm bill and other agriculture legislation. U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, retiring Georgia Rep. Terry Coleman and Sen. Ross Tolleson were joined by agricultural aides Debbie Cannon of Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ office and Jody Redding of Sen. Johnny Isakson’s office.

Marshall told the farmers that he has signed onto a bill that would extend the ’02 farm bill, but cautioned the farmers that the U.S. has to make sure our national farm policy is compliant with international trade agreements.
“I think now that the DOHA round of the WTO negotiations looks like it is dead, we should push for a bill that will be in place for some time,” Marshall said. “However, a new bill will have to take into account what has happened in the world court in regards to the Brazil cotton case. Brazil has already threatened to sue us over other commodities like they did with cotton. However, there are ways to get around WTO constraints like giving more funding through conservation programs.”

Cannon told the group that as Sen. Chambliss holds farm bill hearings across the country, most producers are saying they support the 2002 farm bill and extension of the current bill, but she urged the group to realize that budget constraints and trade concerns may prevent that.

“It’s important that we frame any farm bill discussion with an eye on budget constraints,” Cannon said. “Saxby believes if we get an extension of the farm bill it needs to be five years because of the long-term investments farmers have to make.

Sen. Isakson’s agricultural representative Redding offered these comments, “The main concern over the next farm bill is not just how it is structured, but also that we protect the baseline funding we have now in the current farm bill because overall it has worked very well,” Redding said. “In the next farm bill we can look to see an energy package included in it.”

Farmers in attendance also expressed concern about other issues impacting agriculture. Scooter Harrrington of Dodge County asked the panel what could be done to keep young people interested in farming.

“Representative Kingston introduced a bill last year that would cut capital gains tax for land owners who sold their land to a young farmer,” Redding said. “The USDA has got to be involved and Farm Credit is proposing some changes to allow young farmers to have off-farm income.”

Dodge County farmers Larry Sanders and John Woodard said rising energy prices have become a detriment to irrigating their crops.

“What’s killing us is the cost of fuel when our prices haven’t gone up,” Sanders said. “I’d like to see disaster help cover our increased fuel costs. I probably won’t qualify for disaster loans because I’ve irrigated my crops, and disaster aid is based on production per acre, but I’m not going to make a profit because fuel prices have tripled.”