Letters to Congress from Osborne, Pence, Boyd, and Berry

Letters to Congress regarding budgeted funds for farm bill commodity programs.

Published: March 8, 2002
Updated: March 8, 2002

March 4, 2002

The Honorable Larry Combest
The Honorable Charlie Stenholm
The Honorable Tom Harkin
The Honorable Richard Lugar

Dear Conferees:

As you begin work on the farm bill conference, we strongly urge you to ensure that no less than the House level of $49 billion of the $73.5 billion in new federal funding be devoted to restoring the economic safety net for America’s farmers.

Since 1998, Congress has recognized the critical need to provide over $30 billion in emergency ad hoc assistance to U.S. farmers who have been whipsawed by 4 straight years of record low prices and record high costs of production. Today, America’s farmers are entering their 5th straight year of economic conditions that have realized the lowest real net cash income since the Great Depression, with last October marking the sharpest one-month drop in prices received by farmers since USDA began keeping records 91 years ago.

The ongoing prospect of these staggering economic conditions confronting our Nation’s farmers, along with the unprecedented level of costly, unbudgeted federal help, led Congress last year to approve a Budget Resolution providing new resources to "address low income concerns in the agriculture sector."

In our view, since helping America’s farmers was, in fact, the impetus of new agriculture funding in the Budget Resolution, helping our Nation’s struggling farmers must be the focus in writing the new farm bill. It would be more than a sad irony if a new farm bill was signed into law that did little to shore up depressed farm income or to curb the need for even more unbudgeted and costly ad hoc assistance.

Given that current economic conditions warranted more than $30 billion in emergency ad hoc assistance to help farmers in just 4 years, it seems to us that $49 billion over 10 years is the bare minimum Congress should provide for this purpose. By providing this level of funding, congress will provide meaningful help where it is needed most, curb the need for ad hoc expenditures, and still be able to nearly double funding of important conservation programs – to the highest levels ever – while generously providing for improved rural development, trade, nutrition, research, and other important priorities.

Thank you for attention to this very important matter.

Sincerely,

Tom Osborne, M.C.
Mike Pence, M.C.
Allen Boyd, M. C.
Marion Berry, M.C.



March 4, 2002

STAND UP FOR AMERICA’S FARMERS & TAXPAYERS
JOIN OSBORNE, PENCE, BOYD, AND BERRY

Dear Colleague:

As the Farm Bill conference gets under way, we hope you will join us in sending a strong message to the conferees that the focus of the farm bill should be to help America’s farmers and that no less than the House Farm Bill level of $49 billion should be dedicated to bolster the farm safety net.

Our nation’s farmers are now facing their 5th straight year of record low prices and record high costs of production. Real net farm income on the farm is the lowest since the Great Depression, and last October marked the sharpest drop in prices received by farmers since USDA started keeping records 91 years ago.

In response to these harsh conditions in farm country, Congress approved over $30 billion in emergency ad hoc assistance to farm families over the last 4 years, stemming the tide of farm and bank failures that marked the farm financial crisis of the 1980s.

And last year, in order to get away from the need for further unbudgeted and costly ad hoc assistance and to provide farmers – and their lenders – with more long-term stability and peace of mind, Congress approved a Budget Resolution to provide additional resources over the next 10 years to "address low income concerns in the agriculture sector."

We are concerned, however, that the level of commitment to the farm safety net under the Senate farm bill would fail to provide our Nation’s farmers with an adequate safety net, would do little to end the calls for more ad hoc assistance, and would therefore fail both America’s farmers and taxpayers. Given that $30 billion was required in ad hoc assistance over a 4-year period, it is difficult to conceive how $39 billion over 10 years – the amount provided in the Senate farm bill – could possibly be adequate to fulfill our objectives.

By dedicating a minimum of $49 billion to shore up farm income, we can address the very economic conditions that prompted the provision of new funding for agriculture in the first place, curb future ad hoc spending, and still nearly double conservation funding – to an all time high – while generously providing for rural development, credit, trade, nutrition, research, and other priorities for rural America.

Please join us in standing up for America’s farmers and taxpayers. If you would like to join us as a signatory to this letter, please contact Christina Muedeking (Mr. Osborne) at 5-6435, Ryan Fisher (Mr. Pence) at 5-3021, Chad Causey (Mr. Berry) at 5-4076, and Charla Penn (Mr. Boyd) at 5-5235.

Sincerely,

Tom Osborne, M.C.
Mike Pence, M.C.
Allen Boyd, M.C.
Marion Berry, M.C.