More fruits and vegetables equated with loss of planting prohibition

The farm policy discussion is heating up again. More headlines are rolling in about the f/v component of the farm bill. The piece by Brasher suggests the Senate remove the planting restriction on program crop acres, a notion that is admantly opposed by produce lobbyists.

Brasher: Farm bill prescription calls for more fruits, vegetables From The Des Moines Register:
Your doctor may already be telling you to eat more fruits and vegetables. Now, the President's Cancer Panel is weighing in, recommending that the farm bill be used to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. The panel, whose three members include one of the nation's best- known cancer survivors, Lance Armstrong, should meet farmers like Gary Boysen of Harlan, Ia.Boysen is growing 65 acres of sweet corn, peppers, tomatoes, cantaloupes and other produce this year, and he says the market is growing. The produce is sold at area supermarkets, Wal-Marts in nearby Atlantic and in Council Bluffs, and to wholesalers as far away as Wichita, Kan.He'd like to increase his acreage in the future, but there is one major impediment: federal farm policy.Farmers who grow federally subsidized crops such as field corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton can't convert land to fruit or vegetable production, even for only one year, unless they permanently give up their right to collect federal payments on that acreage.

From United, news about WPPC roundtable of journalists:

United Fresh is excited to offer conference attendees a new general session this year as part of their WPPC 2007 experience. At the WPPC General Session on Thursday morning, attendees will hear from Dan Morgan, reporter from the Washington Post, Catharine Richert, reporter from Congressional Quarterly, and Jerry Hagstrom, reporter from the National Journal. "We are excited to offer our conference attendees a unique opportunity to interact with individuals who actually write about the important issues confronting our nation's lawmakers," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for United Fresh.