1. Combest says Farm Economy - Worse Than Last Year

According to the CongressDaily, House Agricultural Chairman Larry Combest says the farm economy is "worsening" and that he "will push for enactment this year of a countercylical farm program for the 2002 crop year." Countercyclical has become a kind of Washington DC code word for schemes to continue farm bailouts, which are not mandated under federal policy or approved by international trade agreements. The CongressDaily also said that while Combest will move ahead in February with his planned farm bill hearings, he is "apparently acknowledging the resistance of some farm leaders and senators" to making changes this year. Farm Bureau lobbyists have recently been advancing this position. 

Meanwhile, Senator Daschle and 18 other Senators have presented Senate Resolution 13, which calls on Congress to take action this year because " the farm economy and the financial condition of farm and ranch families and rural communities continue to decline."

2. Wildlife vs. Insurance Companies

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) is a voluntary, incentive based conservation-farm policy designed to help farmers steward habitats for wildlife. This year, under current federal funding levels, WHIP will receive $20 million dollars. By comparison, the Federal Crop Insurance Program is funded at $2.2 billion annually. Of this amount about 23%, or $500 million annually, goes directly to the insurance companies. In other words, the insurance industry receives over 25 times the amount of money that is earmarked for WHIP. Despite the fact that the crop insurance program has been highly criticized by farmers for these windfall payments to insurance companies, Congress continues to ratchet up the funding. The American Farm Bureau Federation lobbies heavily for such increases and currently owns or controls about one quarter of the insurance companies approved by the USDA to provide crop insurance.

To learn more about the Farm Bureau's policies and financial connections go to http://www.familyfarmer.org/awg.html

3. Agriculture and the WTO: Hiding in Qatar?

With agriculture the #1 item on the WTO agenda, an alliance of human rights, environmental, labor and farm organizations are claiming WTO leaders want to "hide" in a "totalitarian" country for their upcoming ministerial meeting. The meeting, the first gathering of WTO leaders since thousands converged on Seattle in November of 1999, will be held in the city of Doha in the tiny monarchy of Qatar, which critics have called a totalitarian state. According to a press release by Public Citizen (1-25- 2001) "Qatar does not recognize the right of workers to organize, significantly limits the right to freely assemble, and maintains limitations on the freedom of the press that dissuade journalists from being critical of the dynastic government. Citing a US intelligence report, the press release advised that an alliance of groups sent a letter to President Bush's new trade representative Robert Zoellick requesting a change in location. "For the ministerial to hide in Qatar'" said James P. Hoffa, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters," where suppression of the right to organize into unions or even freely assemble further proves the ministerial wants no input from the world's working people."

4. Mad Cow Spurs Veggie Insurance Discount

The rapid spread of "Mad Cow" disease through Europe is causing dramatic changes in European eating habits. Cows infected with the disease, also called BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) have been discovered in Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and other nations. Beef consumption in Germany alone has dropped by 50%. One of the unexpected changes is that one insurance company is now offering discounts to vegetarians. In a MSA article by David Plotz he reports "that one insurance company in Europe is offering discounts to people who do not eat meat." A call to a local Farm Bureau insurance company yielded no information on whether Farm Bureau, or any of its thousands of insurance companies nationwide were planning similar discounts to US vegetarian in the likely event the disease spreads to the US.