[BCNnet] Fwd: Farm Bill Update

Wed, 24 Apr 2002 23:19:11 EDT

--part1_18b.6ff0b7c.29f8cfaf_boundary
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

News on the farm bill, updating Donnie's post from last week.

Chris Williamson
Chicago/Cook
birdchris@aol.com

--part1_18b.6ff0b7c.29f8cfaf_boundary
Content-Type: message/rfc822
Content-Disposition: inline

Return-Path: <BTE@BTEINC.NET>
Received: from  rly-xd05.mx.aol.com (rly-xd05.mail.aol.com [172.20.105.170]) by air-xd05.mail.aol.com (v84.10) with ESMTP id MAILINXD54-0424141311; Wed, 24 Apr 2002 14:13:11 -0400
Received: from  chimta02.algx.net (chimta02.algx.net [216.99.233.77]) by rly-xd05.mx.aol.com (v84.10) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINXD54-0424141247; Wed, 24 Apr 2002 14:12:47 -0400
Received: from BTEINC.NET (66-2-46-61-chi-04.cvx.algx.net [66.2.46.61])
 by chimmx02.algx.net (iPlanet Messaging Server 5.1 (built May  7 2001))
 with ESMTP id <0GV3005AR3MYBJ@chimmx02.algx.net>; Wed,
 24 Apr 2002 13:07:42 -0500 (CDT)
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 13:15:19 -0500
From: "Janice W. Neitzel" <BTE@BTEINC.NET>
Subject: Farm Bill Update
Message-id: <3CC6F637.AA6EBCFE@BTEINC.NET>
Organization: Business Technology Experts (BTE)
MIME-version: 1.0
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD47  (Win98; U)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
X-Accept-Language: en
To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Update on Farm Bill and Cargill's profits (major agribusiness corp)
follow.  The Senate version of the Farm Bill is MUCH better for
sustainable farming.  For continuing updates on the Farm Bill see
www.familyfarmer.org.  Janice Neitzel

1.  CONFEREES CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS ON FARM BILL

Members of the House and Senate continued their discussions of what the
"AgPress" is calling the "Etch-A-Sketch" Farm Bill.  With perpetual
motion changes, this week has been marked by wildly swinging moods of
optimism, cancelled meetings and resumed negotiations.  In the latest
news, House negotiators offered a
compromise proposal yesterday, and the Senate produced a counter-offer
today.  Stark differences still remain between the two proposals: the
House continues to direct 60% of conservation funds to the agribusiness
heavy EQIP program and implements only a pilot Conservation Security
Program, while the Senate directs  7.9
billion to EQIP, while fully funding the CSP at $3.4 billion.  In both
versions all conservation programs receive less funding than in the
Senate-passed Farm Bill.  The Senate's version also holds to a $225,000
per year payment limitation, a stance strengthened by yesterday's
passage of a House "motion to instruct" conferees to
adopt the Senate's payment limitations.  This motion passed 265- 158.
The House offer brings the payment limitation down to $360,000 from
$550,000.  The Senate's offer is weaker than its original but still
stronger than the House offer in some areas: the Senate retains a packer
ban, but with a four-year divestment period,
while the House commissions a study; the Senate removed cattle but
retain swine in the PSA production contract oversight jurisdiction.  But
the Senate has also dropped the ban on forced arbitration.

The House Farm Bill offer, and an audio link to conference
deliberations, are available at
http://agriculture.house.gov/farmbill.htm

2.  AGRIBUSINESS GIANT CARGILL REPORTS PLUMP 1st Quarter

In the midst of enormously large federal bailouts to the farm sector
and continued historically high farm foreclosures,  Rueters is
reporting that agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. reported plump first
quarter profit earnings of 63%.  According to Rueters, "buoyed by
its food and grain units and lower energy costs" the company
benefitted from a domestic sales and a broader base of earnings
worldwide."   (ED. NOTE) This announcement comes precisely
when many in Congress stumble over themselves pumping massive
taxpayer subsidies into Farm Bill commodity programs that reward
agribusiness and bankrupt family farmers by stimulating
environmentally damaging overproduction.  Simply put, Cargill is
reaping the rewards of this taxpayer subsidized oversupply and
benefitting from high returns on raw goods processed through their
international "vertically integrated" food production chain.   In
actual dollars, Cargill, the largest privately held company in the
United States posted 2002 first quarter earnings of $683 million.
Up from $445 million for the first quarter of 2001.

--part1_18b.6ff0b7c.29f8cfaf_boundary--