Farm bill headed to Bush

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: May 16, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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WASHINGTON — Congress on Thursday passed a new $307 billion farm bill that is considered crucial to Louisiana’s rice and sugarcane farmers.

The Senate passed the measure 81-15 Thursday while the House approved it by a vote of 318-106 Wednesday.

The bill goes to President Bush’s desk with two-thirds of each chamber passing the legislation, giving it a veto-proof margin.

Bush has threatened to veto the five-year bill saying it costs too much and does little to cut subsidies to wealthy farmers. Farm prices are riding high, which reduces the need for indirect farm subsidies, the administration said.

But if prices drop, as they did between 1996 and 1998, an important safety net will be in place for farmers, said Kyle McCann, commodities director for the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation.

“In terms of long term stability, it means a lot to farmers,” said McCann, who handles national affairs for the federation. “It will provide some limited support for these times but it will provide a support mechanism for the low times.”

Two of the state’s nine-member congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Shreveport and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, voted against the measure.

The bill is viewed as particularly important to the state’s sugar cane farmers. The legislation mandates that 85 percent of the nation’s sugar market be produced in the United States. Excess sugar, mostly from Mexico, will be dedicated to producing ethanol.

Unlike other commodities, sugar prices have remained static over the last decade, said Jim Simon, general manager of the American Sugar Cane League in Thibodaux.

Sugar farmers will receive a boost in the loan rate under the bill. The rate of 18 cents per pound has stood since 1985. Under the new measure, the figure will increase by one-fourth cent per pound for three consecutive years beginning in 2009, ending up as a three-quarter of a cent increase by 2011.

“It’s a very important tool that has the opportunity to improve prices,” Simon said.

Rice farmers will also see a new calculation in its payments. In the past, subsidies have been figured based on the average price of both long grain and short grain rice. Under the new bill, each category will be measured individually.

“It leaves the markets to stand on their own,” McCann said. “There is a real difference in the markets that these two face.”