1. FARM BILL ROUNDUP - SENATE BILL OUT OF COMMITTEE

As politicians head home for the Thanksgiving holiday and the dust settles temporarily on the Senate farm bill ruckus in Washington, D.C., it's evident that the Senate agricultural committee's version of the farm bill, advanced out of committee last Friday, makes important advances in some areas, and falls far short in others. On the conservation front, the Senate's version is far superior to the House's in policy and enforcement, and it includes Senator Harkin's Conservation Security Act (CSA), which rewards farmers and ranchers for management improvements. Unfortunately the Senate version does not fund conservation programs at significantly improved levels and, like the House version, includes a massive subsidy giveaway to corporate hog farms (see below) through the EQIP program. Moreover, family farm groups are furious as the commodities title appears to be written by the meat packers and the grain trade and the competition title did not even make it out of committee, though Senator Wellstone did manage to include an amendment that would require country of origin labeling.

When the farm bill hits the Senate floor next Thursday (November 29 is target date) it is destined for a quick turnaround and many amendments are expected, some good and some bad. While an alliance of grassroots conservation and family farm and ranch groups will be pushing for more spending for conservation programs and structural changes in the commodities and competition title, corporate agribusiness interests will be looking to continue environmentally degrading business-as-usual with massive subsidies and government giveaways. Overshadowing all policy efforts is an atmosphere of concern with war efforts and a rapidly dwindling federal budget that will combine to hasten farm bill closure - even if it means having to live with an inferior solution for the next five to ten years. Stay tuned to Rural Updates next week as debates heat up. Action will be needed by you to help make the next farm bill work better for rural families and the land.

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is an important voluntary program that provides technical assistance and cost-share payments to farmers who wish to improve air and water quality on their land. Currently, cost-share assistance is available only to animal feeding operations of fewer than 1000 animal units.

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives buckled to pressure from the corporate livestock industry and lifted the animal unit cap in their farm bill proposal. Frustratingly, the farm bill advanced out of the Senate Ag committee last week does the same thing and it will mean millions in subsidies to factory animal farms (CAFO'S) and a boon to the corporate livestock industry as federal taxdollars are siphoned off to pay for cleaning up their manure. A broad coalition of agricultural and conservation interests will try to stop this next week as amendments are sure to be advanced to block these payoffs to PSF, Smithfield and others. 

For more information on the problems associated with EQIP funding being used for CAFO's, including their impact on family farmers and ranchers see: http://www.familyfarmer.org/alerts/stopag.html

The World Trade Organization met last week as far away as possible from the prying eyes of civil society in the virtually inaccessible Persian Gulf city of Doha, Qatar. Despite the limitations on access by non-governmental organizations and the public, the attending countries still had difficulty setting an agenda for the next round. Agreement on a new round of trade talks only came when the United States and European Union agreed to put on the table their agriculture and anti-dumping protections. For the U.S., this means that the next round of WTO negotiations could force the elimination of both farm subsidies that are not protected under the environment "green box" payments, and measures that prevent other countries from selling manufactured goods below cost here. This concession by the U.S. Trade Representative might make Congress reluctant to hand over its power to amend trade agreements by giving the President fast track trade promotion authority - an issue President Bush has said is a top priority under his administration.

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