HOT SPRINGS — U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford said Wednesday that he expects the House and Senate to extend the current federal farm bill before the end of the year rather than try to iron out differences in versions passed earlier this year.
“I think we’re going to see an extension in the lame-duck session,” Crawford, R-Ark., said during a videoconference at the 78th annual Arkansas Farm Bureau conference. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend this year’s conference, which has the theme “Seeds of Change.”
While Crawford told attendees at a breakout session on public policy that he remained hopeful that a 2012 farm bill would be approved that would contain language that would remain favorable to Arkansas growers — rather than the Senate version which contains more generic language favorable to producers in other states — any extension would restart negotiations.
“I think it will require at least a 12-month extension to get where we need to be,” Crawford said. The added time would also give various federal agencies charged with implementing its provisions time to draft regulations.
However, Crawford said that if the new Congress — both the House and Senate — takes a fresh look at the farm bill, “it won’t be a carbon copy” of the ones now pending in either body.
The Senate passed its version of the farm bill in June, and the House Agriculture Committee followed in July.
The House bill, like the Senate bill, would end direct payments to farmers, which many growers say are essential to planting profitable crops, and would increase crop insurance funding.
Unlike the Senate bill, which would tie insurance to a farm’s yield, the House bill would allow farmers to take out insurance to protect against price swings.
Southern growers favor that approach. They tend to see relatively stable yields because they irrigate many of their fields but are prone to take losses when prices drop too low.
While an extension of the current farm bill would be acceptable, Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach said state growers need direction soon as they begin making plans for their 2013 plantings.
“If we can’t get a good bill, with a good safety net, then an extension would be the best bet,” Veach said after Crawford’s talk.
Farmers, including those who raised corn, soybeans, rice and cotton, have just completed harvest and are now starting to decide what to plant in the spring, Veach said. Without farm bill guidelines in hand, they will have a tough time going to borrowers to secure production loans. And, he said lenders will have a hard time assessing risk without some kind of crop or commodity insurance program and will have to instead place greater weight on factors such as sales, cash flow and collateral.
Planting decisions will be made over the next few months, Veach said.
“But if we get into late March and they still don’t have anything, then we’ve got huge problems,” he said.
Crawford, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, told listeners that the version passed by the House involved heavy negotiations to devise a package that drew broad support from members of both parties while including provisions that “most Arkansas producers are comfortable with.” He expressed concern that if the House and Senate can’t pass a compromise measure before the new Congress is seated, then further delays might result.
Crawford said that any extension would continue the direct payments to farmers allowed under the current farm bill — but likely with some kind of reduction, possibly around 5 percent, to reflect budget concerns.
And, if fast compromises are made for the sake of advancing the bill in light of debates over the federal budget and the so-called “fiscal cliff” and its mandated spending cuts and tax increases, Crawford worried that the House version would lose support from Democrats.
“I’d much rather have this one than the unknown of 2013,” Crawford said.
Also appearing Wednesday — the first day of a three-day convention — was Gov. Mike Beebe, who encouraged attendees to learn as much as they can about the Medicaid program that the Arkansas Legislature will debate in January.
The state is facing a shortfall in the program of more than $350 million as it tries to decide how to handle a potential expansion because of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and reducing costs through payment changes.
“We’ve got to take care of Arkansas,” regardless of any problems that leaders in Washington, D.C., might have, Beebe said. He said Farm Bureau members need to educate themselves about the issue and then contact their representatives to develop a response, especially since Arkansas taxpayers will be sharing in the program’s cost.
Business, Pages 27 on 11/29/2012