Status Woe

The House Ag subcommittee on general commodities and risk management just wrapped up their markup session. The subcommittee extended the 2002 farm bill and then had several amendments to that 2002 language. One of those amendments was for a pilot program in Indiana that provides for an exception to the fruit and vegetable planting restriction on flex acres. That language for the pilot program was also part of the subcommittee's mark before the commodity title was changed out in favor of the simple 2002 farm bill extension.

The Farm Flex pilot project in Indiana allows for tomatoes to be planted on up to 10,000 base acres. The industry should not be happy with this development, since at some point the producers of subsidized tomatoes and unsubsidized tomatoes will compete.

The subcommittee was also considering a permanent disaster relief program, though I did not catch the final deliberations of that amendment.

All in all, the subcommittee's work was not that ambitious. By voting to extended the 2002 farm bill, it spurned voices that urged creation of a more forward-looking, WTO-friendly farm program.

All signs point to the reality that lawmakers invested in the commodity title want more money yet from the budget. You can bank on the fact Rep. Jerry Moran of Kansas is not going to be staying up nights worrying whether specialty crop block grants are funded.