Gauging reaction

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns farm bill proposals that would boost fruit and vegetable purchases by hundreds of millions of dollars and provide money for other specialty crop priorities quickly gathered industry praise yesterday, though Robert Guenther of United told me yesterday the suggested removal of the planting flexibility restriction was troubling. What's more, the Administration didn't identify block grants as a funding priority.

Guenther said United will soon introduce research highlighting the economic impact on fruit and vegetable growers if the fruit and vegetable planting restriction on farm program acres were to be lifted.

Meanwhile, this article describes some of the pushback the Administration's proposal is getting so far. The dreaded words "dead on arrival" may not apply yet, but the package will be a tough sell to entrenched farm interests.