Hearing about horticulture

The House Agriculture subcommittee for Horticulture and Organic Agriculture met this morning. USDA Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner testified for the Administration about the White House farm bill proposal.

Organics seemed to be a hot topic, with one question whether imported organic produce is subject to the same rigor as U.S. grown produce. Another question was about the sustainability of funding for bio-fuel research on cellulosic ethanol.

As an aside, I was talking with Bill Washburn recently and he said an exciting project on producing hydrogen from produce waste is on the verge of wider commercial exploitation. Back to the subcommittee:

Subcommittee chairman Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., asked Conner about the Administration's position on flex acres. Of course, the White House wants to delete the f&v planting prohibition on farm program acres because of Brazil's challenge to the U.S. cotton program.

"We feel it is extremely important to address this concern raised by the WTO," Conner replied to Cardoza. "We want and we must have direct payments continued to be classified as green box; it's paramount we address the WTO concerns." Cardoza promised further inquiry into the issue.

Cardoza also asked about the EQUIP conversation program and asked how it could be made more accessible to growers. In closing, Cardoza said he was committed to produce a responsible, equitable and innovative farm bill for horticultural producers.

TK: I don't see much give in the Administration's position on the flex acres provision. It will be an important strategic decision to expend a lot of political capital trying to fight it, or simply try to leverage its elimination with greater funding for f&v priorities. I'll be heading to Washington D.C. later today to attend the Ag Outlook meeting, so we'll see if that topic comes up again when Western Growers' Tom Nassif speaks to the conference.