Vilsack monitors farm program signup on daily basis, mum on extension
February 24, 2015 |06:53 PM
By JERRY HAGSTROM and JAMELEE BAL
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the Senate Agriculture Committee today that he monitors the rate of sign-up for the new crop farm program on a daily basis. He said he will not make a decision at this time about whether to extend the deadlines because there is a “registry” system that should allow all participants to start the process.
Tom Vilsack
There are two farm program deadlines. The first is this Friday, for farmers and landlords to update their crops and yields. The second is March 31, for farmers to make a choice between the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and the Production Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.
Vilsack said that 430,332 — or 26 to 27 percent — of eligible producers have made an election. He said that he had been briefed weekly on the number of farmers who have signed up, but that those briefings have become daily.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., noted that sign-up for the dairy program was extended, and asked Vilsack if he would extend the deadline for crop farmers.
Vilsack replied that if farmers are on the registry by Friday, “they can cross the T’s and dot the i’s after that.”
Vilsack did not rule out an extension, but said he is reluctant to do that because “it’s like telling your kids they have another week to do their homework.”
Vilsack also said that “a software glitch” has been fixed.
The secretary also noted that USDA has sent out more than two million postcards warning producers of the deadlines, and conducted 4,900 meetings around the country.
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who chaired the committee when the farm bill was written, noted that the program offers farmers a choice between Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage because the House insisted on both programs, and that the farmers’ need to make a decision between the two “makes me the most nervous” because the farmer is making a choice that has to last the five-year life of the bill.
Vilsack’s testimony followed a panel of farmers. In announcing the hearing, Roberts had made much of the fact that he was asking farmers to testify first, but the farmers were generally complimentary about the implementation of the farm bill, and the atmosphere toward Vilsack throughout the hearing was also friendly.
At Roberts’ urging, the farmers testified to the importance of crop insurance and said Congress should not alter the five-year farm bill, at least until the programs have a few years to operate.
Rich Felts, a wheat, corn, soybean, and livestock producer from Liberty, Kan., said crop insurance is “a crucial tool for farmers across the United States. It is the only program producers like me actually put our own skin into every year.”
Clay Mitchell, a corn and soybean producer from Buckingham, Iowa, noted that the Economic Research Service said the average farmer in the heartland was unprofitable from 2000 to 2006. He also noted that crop failures are a once-in-a-lifetime event in his part of the country, but said that even though crop insurance amounts to 5 to 15 percent of his non-land production costs, the expense is worth it because “a once-in-a-lifetime crop loss is much too frequent to bet the farm.”
Michael DeRuiter, a cherry, apple and peach producer from Hart, Mich., told Stabenow that crop insurance is particularly vital for young farmers growing specialty crops with high input costs. He also noted that Michigan is one of eight states participating in a pilot program to provide local foods to schools. Local sourcing of fruits and vegetables is “exposing kids to a new product” in addition to providing a market to the farmers, DeRuiter said.
In response to a question from Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., Vilsack said that the Office of the Chief Economist is completing the hiring of a consulting firm to study the issue of establishing a separate undersecretary for trade, as the farm bill allows. Vilsack noted that the issue involves not just the Foreign Agricultural Service, but other divisions of USDA including the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services. Vilsack declined to commit to a time line for making a decision on establishing that office.
Vilsack noted that USDA can make only 10 grants to states' pilot projects to figure out how to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries find work, but that 30 states have submitted applications. Vilsack said he will encourage other states to take full advantage of another program, and will use whatever expertise USDA gains to advise them.
Although the subject of the hearing was the farm bill, Roberts said he wanted “everyone to know” that the committee takes the reauthorization of child nutrition programs seriously.
“I am very worried about very small schools having trouble with the regulations,” Vilsack said, adding that perhaps he needs “to be educated a little bit more” about the required servings of fruits and vegetables.
Stabenow told Vilsack she would be “very happy to give you some fresh fruits and vegetables to feel better about yourself.“
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., added that she was in upstate New York on Monday and “was surprised how much these young kids knew about fruits and vegetables.” She also said she was pleased that New York was selected to be a state for the pilot on procurement of fruits and vegetables.
Stabenow said she is concerned that President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2016 budget proposal calls for cuts in conservation programs. Vilsack said that the Natural Resources Conservation Service does not have enough staff to conduct all the programs, and that he wants to “right-size the number of workers with the amount of work” so that NRCS can get a clean audit.
But Stabenow said she remains concerned about any spending reduction “that undermines the baseline.”
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said NRCS has begun using a concept of an “obvious wetland” in telling farmers that they must show they are engaging in conservation compliance.
Hoeven said the concept of an “obvious wetland is difficult in a prairie pothole region where you have wet years and dry years.”
Hoeven also said he is concerned that NRCS has established a relationship with Ducks Unlimited on conservation compliance, and that this could be a conflict of interest.
Vilsack said NRCS is trying to “leverage resources,” and that this was the first time he had heard any questioning of this relationship.
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., praised NRCS for its efforts to help maintain the habitat for the greater sage grouse so that it won’t be listed as an endangered species, and asked Vilsack to help with the Gunnison sage grouse.
Vilsack said he would have to get back to him about the Gunnison sage grouse, but that “we are committed to try to help producers with the challenges of the Endangered Species Act as they see them.”
Roberts said he’d like help in Kansas with the lesser prairie chicken, although he added that he believes the species will increase in numbers as rainfall increases.
It was clear that the debate over the actively engaged rule continues.
Ronnie Lee, a cotton, peanut, wheat, corn, soybean, pecan, and cattle producer from Bronwood, Ga., testified that cotton producers are not yet satisfied with how USDA will implement the unified payment limit on marketing loans, and is concerned about how an unfinished “actively engaged” rule on who is considered eligible for subsidies will impact southern farm operations.
Stabenow, who favors a strict actively engaged rule, told Vilsack that “nothing” is preventing USDA from using its existing authorities to make the actively engaged rule as strong as possible.
Vilsack emphasized that the rule, when completed, would not affect family farm operations.
▪ Senate Agriculture Committee (video) — The Agricultural Act of 2014 implementation after one year and Farm Credit Administration pending nominations (video of hearing)
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the Senate Agriculture Committee today that he monitors the rate of sign-up for the new crop farm program on a daily basis. He said he will not make a decision at this time about whether to extend the deadlines because there is a “registry” system that should allow all participants to start the process.
There are two farm program deadlines. The first is this Friday, for farmers and landlords to update their crops and yields. The second is March 31, for farmers to make a choice between the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and the Production Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.
Vilsack said that 430,332 — or 26 to 27 percent — of eligible producers have made an election. He said that he had been briefed weekly on the number of farmers who have signed up, but that those briefings have become daily.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., noted that sign-up for the dairy program was extended, and asked Vilsack if he would extend the deadline for crop farmers.
Vilsack replied that if farmers are on the registry by Friday, “they can cross the T’s and dot the i’s after that.”
Vilsack did not rule out an extension, but said he is reluctant to do that because “it’s like telling your kids they have another week to do their homework.”
Vilsack also said that “a software glitch” has been fixed.
The secretary also noted that USDA has sent out more than two million postcards warning producers of the deadlines, and conducted 4,900 meetings around the country.
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who chaired the committee when the farm bill was written, noted that the program offers farmers a choice between Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage because the House insisted on both programs, and that the farmers’ need to make a decision between the two “makes me the most nervous” because the farmer is making a choice that has to last the five-year life of the bill.
TESTIMONY FROM FARMERS
Vilsack’s testimony followed a panel of farmers. In announcing the hearing, Roberts had made much of the fact that he was asking farmers to testify first, but the farmers were generally complimentary about the implementation of the farm bill, and the atmosphere toward Vilsack throughout the hearing was also friendly.
At Roberts’ urging, the farmers testified to the importance of crop insurance and said Congress should not alter the five-year farm bill, at least until the programs have a few years to operate.
Rich Felts, a wheat, corn, soybean, and livestock producer from Liberty, Kan., said crop insurance is “a crucial tool for farmers across the United States. It is the only program producers like me actually put our own skin into every year.”
Clay Mitchell, a corn and soybean producer from Buckingham, Iowa, noted that the Economic Research Service said the average farmer in the heartland was unprofitable from 2000 to 2006. He also noted that crop failures are a once-in-a-lifetime event in his part of the country, but said that even though crop insurance amounts to 5 to 15 percent of his non-land production costs, the expense is worth it because “a once-in-a-lifetime crop loss is much too frequent to bet the farm.”
Michael DeRuiter, a cherry, apple and peach producer from Hart, Mich., told Stabenow that crop insurance is particularly vital for young farmers growing specialty crops with high input costs. He also noted that Michigan is one of eight states participating in a pilot program to provide local foods to schools. Local sourcing of fruits and vegetables is “exposing kids to a new product” in addition to providing a market to the farmers, DeRuiter said.
TRADE UNDERSECRETARY
In response to a question from Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., Vilsack said that the Office of the Chief Economist is completing the hiring of a consulting firm to study the issue of establishing a separate undersecretary for trade, as the farm bill allows. Vilsack noted that the issue involves not just the Foreign Agricultural Service, but other divisions of USDA including the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services. Vilsack declined to commit to a time line for making a decision on establishing that office.
SNAP AND CHILD NUTRITION
Vilsack noted that USDA can make only 10 grants to states' pilot projects to figure out how to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries find work, but that 30 states have submitted applications. Vilsack said he will encourage other states to take full advantage of another program, and will use whatever expertise USDA gains to advise them.
Although the subject of the hearing was the farm bill, Roberts said he wanted “everyone to know” that the committee takes the reauthorization of child nutrition programs seriously.
“I am very worried about very small schools having trouble with the regulations,” Vilsack said, adding that perhaps he needs “to be educated a little bit more” about the required servings of fruits and vegetables.
Stabenow told Vilsack she would be “very happy to give you some fresh fruits and vegetables to feel better about yourself.“
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., added that she was in upstate New York on Monday and “was surprised how much these young kids knew about fruits and vegetables.” She also said she was pleased that New York was selected to be a state for the pilot on procurement of fruits and vegetables.
CONSERVATION
Stabenow said she is concerned that President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2016 budget proposal calls for cuts in conservation programs. Vilsack said that the Natural Resources Conservation Service does not have enough staff to conduct all the programs, and that he wants to “right-size the number of workers with the amount of work” so that NRCS can get a clean audit.
But Stabenow said she remains concerned about any spending reduction “that undermines the baseline.”
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said NRCS has begun using a concept of an “obvious wetland” in telling farmers that they must show they are engaging in conservation compliance.
Hoeven said the concept of an “obvious wetland is difficult in a prairie pothole region where you have wet years and dry years.”
Hoeven also said he is concerned that NRCS has established a relationship with Ducks Unlimited on conservation compliance, and that this could be a conflict of interest.
Vilsack said NRCS is trying to “leverage resources,” and that this was the first time he had heard any questioning of this relationship.
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., praised NRCS for its efforts to help maintain the habitat for the greater sage grouse so that it won’t be listed as an endangered species, and asked Vilsack to help with the Gunnison sage grouse.
Vilsack said he would have to get back to him about the Gunnison sage grouse, but that “we are committed to try to help producers with the challenges of the Endangered Species Act as they see them.”
Roberts said he’d like help in Kansas with the lesser prairie chicken, although he added that he believes the species will increase in numbers as rainfall increases.
ACTIVELY ENGAGED RULE
It was clear that the debate over the actively engaged rule continues.
Ronnie Lee, a cotton, peanut, wheat, corn, soybean, pecan, and cattle producer from Bronwood, Ga., testified that cotton producers are not yet satisfied with how USDA will implement the unified payment limit on marketing loans, and is concerned about how an unfinished “actively engaged” rule on who is considered eligible for subsidies will impact southern farm operations.
Stabenow, who favors a strict actively engaged rule, told Vilsack that “nothing” is preventing USDA from using its existing authorities to make the actively engaged rule as strong as possible.
Vilsack emphasized that the rule, when completed, would not affect family farm operations.
▪ Senate Agriculture Committee (video) — The Agricultural Act of 2014 implementation after one year and Farm Credit Administration pending nominations (video of hearing)
