Brown bagging it

Retailers are no slouches when it comes to responding to their customers. As Americans becoming increasingly concerned about a potential recession, as existing home sales stumble to new lows and budgets are stretched tight by higher food and fuel costs, the latest food ad from Hen House in KC proclaims "Brown baggin' is back!" The ad special is $9.99 for 10 ounces of honey maple turkey, 5 ounces of Vermont cheddar cheese, a 20-ounce loaf of Wonder bread, 4-pack of Hunt's fat free pudding, two and a half pounds of bananas and 12 pack of Ozarka 8 ounce bottles.

Other Hen House produce ads: (Oct. 24- Oct. 30)
Stemilt certified organic Pinata apples; $1.99/lb
Wash. ExFcy premium fuji apples: $1.29/lb
Jumbo red scarlotta seedless grapes from Sun World: $1.69/lb
Hosei Asian pears: 99 cents each
Late Howell cranberries: 2 12 ounce packages for $4
Honeycrisp apples from Honeybear Orachards in Wash. $1.99/lb
Dole salad blends: 2 for $4 7 to 10 ounce, selected varieites


Dillons: Oct 24-Oct. 30
Bananas: 2 lbs for 88 cents
Jack O Lantern pumpkins: 3 for $10
New crop jonathan or gala apples: $1.49/lb
New crop in shell peanuts: $1.49/lb
Nature sweet cherry tomatoes: 2 for $6
Honeycrisp or Ambrosia apples: $2.49/lb
Jumbo Del Monte Gold pineapple: 2 for $6
New crop Wonderful pomegranates: 2 for $4


HyVee Oct. 24-Oct. 30
Honeycrisp apples: $1.99/lb
Columbine seedless holiday red grapes: $1.99/lb
Stemilt Taylor Gold and Concorde pears: $1.68/lb
Brussels sprouts: $1.28/lb
Capital brand roma tomatoes: $1.99/lb
Mountain King Butter Gold potatoes: $1.99/5-pound bag
Dole California celery: 88 cents
Dole salad kits: 2 for $4: 10 to 12.5 ounces
Kandy honeydew melon: $2.88 each
Mini sweet watermelon: $3.48 each
Peru sweet onions: 88 cents/lb
South African seedless oranges: 99 cents/lb
Santa Sweets: organic grape tomatoes: 2 pints for $5
Del Monte Orchard Select or Sunfresh fruit: 2 24 ounce for $5
Grimmway carrots: 2 lb bag for 88 cents
Washington jonathan apples: 88 cents/lb
Green cabbage: 38 cents/lb
Ripe hass avocados: 3 for $4

Bright and early

Senators and staff are earning their money this week. A 9 a.m. start tomorrow...

WASHINGTON D.C. – Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), the Chairman and Ranking Member respectively of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, announced they will continue the open business meeting of the Committee to consider and report out the 2007 farm bill, the Food and Energy Security Act. The meeting will continue Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. EDT in room 328A of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Due to space constraints in the hearing room, reporters must sign up with one of the contacts listed above and should be prepared to view the proceedings from an overflow room.

Live video footage of the proceedings will be available at www.agriculture.senate.gov.

Late night with the Senate Ag Committee

Lorelei DiSogra of United reports that the markup session of the Senate Agriculture Committee will stretch late into the day and perhaps the evening. There have been quite a few amendments offered on Title I programs, particularly dairy - despite the fact that the committee doesn't have a lot of money to play with beyond what is already outlined in the markup.

Still uncertain is when the committee will vote out the farm bill and when the full Senate will take it up. Expect to see some move to offer AgJobs on the Senate floor. Lorelei did assure me that the money for the fruit and vegetable snack program - about $1 billion over five years - is mandatory.

Sen. Tom Harkin's opening statement

Statement of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
To the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
On the Chairman’s Mark of the 2007 Farm Bill


“Good morning. After months of hard work and spirited negotiations, I am pleased to present to the committee the Chairman’s mark of the 2007 farm bill, The Food and Energy Security Act.
“First things first, I’d like to thank my committee colleagues for their assistance in shaping this bill. In particular, I’d like to thank our Ranking Member, Senator Saxby Chambliss, for his leadership and partnership on the committee.
“This is a bipartisan bill that, I believe, will enjoy broad support on the committee. It conforms to a strict budget allocation and pay-as-you-go budget rules, yet still addresses the diverse geographical and philosophical views on our Committee in a balanced way. I would like to thank Chairman Conrad of the Budget Committee and Chairman Baucus of the Finance Committee for their help in making this possible.
“There are significant achievements in this bill. It is a forward-looking bill that makes critical investments in energy, conservation, nutrition, rural development and promoting better diets and health for all Americans. It maintains a strong safety net for farm producers, and strengthens programs that will help agricultural producers of all kinds across our nation.
“The commodities title of the proposal continues basic features of the 2002 bill, which have worked well, and it gives producers a new option, beginning in the 2010 crop year, to choose to participate in a state-level revenue protection system. The program offers producers better options for managing their farm’s risk in today’s uncertain, rapidly changing farm environment. The bill greatly increases assistance to growers of fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops.
“In the nutrition title, we strengthen our commitment to fighting hunger and promoting sound health and nutrition. We update archaic nutrition program rules, increase Food Stamp benefit levels, and stop the erosion of benefits that has gone unchecked since 1996. We expand the very popular Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to reach nearly 4.5 million children in elementary schools nationwide.
“The conservation title has an estimated $4 billion in new budget authority. This will allow CSP – now renamed the Conservation Stewardship Program – to grow vigorously at a pace of more than 13 million acres a year, which with the 15 million acres already enrolled, will equal 80 million acres in 5 years. This funding will also continue to allow enrollment in the Wetland Reserve Program and the Grassland Reserve Program. We devote $165 million to help fund the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay. This is a very strong conservation title, despite severe budget limits.
“In the energy title, we provide $1.1 billion in investments in farm-based energy. The Chairman’s mark supports programs to help farmers to transition into biomass crops, and supports the construction of biorefineries from cellulose ethanol with a loan guarantee program that will provide up to 80 percent of total project cost with a loan cap of $250 million. I would like especially to thank Senators Amy Klobuchar and John Thune for their strong support of these efforts. We expand markets for biobased products, and invest in farm-based energy R&D, and in helping farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses move to renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“The bill’s livestock title will promote market opportunities for producers; it will protect animal health; and it will strengthen enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act. This title includes the House compromise on mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, with minor changes.
“In the rural development title, we have provided nearly half a billion dollars for a variety of initiatives that will promote economic growth and create jobs in rural communities. This title will help agriculture producers and small businesses to create and capitalize on new opportunities. It will bring quality, affordable day care as well as improved access to broadband to rural America. It will provide loans to rural hospitals so that they can acquire the best equipment possible.
“Overall, this new farm bill will be good for farmers, good for rural communities and good for the environment. It will promote the health as well as the energy security of the American people. And, as I said, it does all this within a strict budget allocation and pay-as-you-go budget rules.
“Once again, I’d like to thank Ranking Member Chambliss for his leadership and cooperation in bringing this Chairman’s mark to the committee. And I now yield to him for his opening statement.”

DeLauro Food Import Safety Act

From the office of Rosa DeLauro:

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) introduced the Food Import Safety Act (H.R. 3937), which would strengthen and improve the Food and Drug Administration to reflect the needs of an increasingly global food supply and ensure the agency has the authorities and tools necessary to verify the safety of imported food products.

“Given the numerous recalls associated with imports this past year, we clearly need to reform how this country ensures the safety of imports. We need to work toward creating a modernized system that would empower the FDA to ensure that importers and others involved in food supply are meeting their responsibility to prevent food safety problems, and the Food Import Safety Act would accomplish that. The FDA’s response to the contaminated products being imported from China was tragically slow, and this bill would address the shortfalls in the FDA’s authority that prevents it from ensuring the safety of food imports.”

The Food Import Safety Act includes provisions that would:
Ö Require foreign facilities or countries to meet standards that are equivalent to those in the U.S. before being able to import foods;
Ö Give the HHS Secretary the authority to deny food imports from countries that demonstrate a pattern of violations;
Ö Authorize FDA to inspect overseas plants and make access to foreign plants a condition of entry into the U.S.; and
Ö Provide the FDA with mandatory recall authority.

Average Crop Revenue Program

One of the new wrinkles of the Senate farm bill is the Average Crop Revenue Program. Sen Harkin's office prepared this backgrounder about the program,

ACR gives producers an option, beginning in the 2010 crop year, to choose between a state level revenue protection program or remain in the traditional farm program. This new approach is similar to the Durbin-Brown proposal and that of the Iowa and National Corn Growers. The optional program better allows producers to manage their farm’s risk in today’s uncertain and evolving farm environment. This program makes good fiscal sense too as it can save $3 to $3.5 billion over 5 years.


AN OPTION FOR PRODUCERS
AVERAGE CROP REVENUE (ACR) PROGRAM
The Average Crop Revenue Program
Provides farmers the choice, beginning with the 2010 crop year, to participate in a revenue protection program or to remain in the traditional farm program. The decision would be made each year by individual farm and would apply to all covered commodities on the farm. The optional Average Crop Revenue (ACR) program is similar to the Durbin-Brown bill (S.1872). ACR doesn’t cost more to the federal budget, but it will provide better income protection for many farmers.
How does ACR work?
This optional program would provide participating producers a fixed payment of $15 an acre on the lesser of either the total crop base acres on the farm or the 2002-2007 average of acres planted to all covered commodities. The starting point for ACR is state level revenue for each commodity. The revenue component would generate payments on a crop-specific basis whenever average per-acre revenue at the state level falls below the per-acre state guarantee. The state-level guarantee equals 90% of the product of expected state average yield and the three-year moving average (including the current year) of the pre-planting price used to calculate coverage for revenue insurance products in the Federal crop insurance program.
After harvest, USDA would calculate the actual state revenue using the harvest price for the commodity under the revenue insurance products and the actual state yield per planted acre. If the actual state revenue is less than the state-level guarantee, producers would receive a payment equal to 90 percent of the difference adjusted for each producer’s average APH yield in relation to the state yield.
Why would a farmer choose to participate in ACR?
• Better protection for farmers because their income depends on yields and price—crop revenue. This approach fixes a hole in existing programs that just covers low prices.
• More adaptive to market conditions than current farm programs. Unforeseen declines in current commodity prices can lead to significant declines in producer income without an effective safety net. In contrast, ACR uses a rolling average of futures prices to set revenue guarantees. Thus, ACR will provide better protection to farmers because it responds to market conditions--providing protection across a range of prices rather than a fixed target price, as is currently the case.
• More efficient crop insurance because ACR integrates individual farm insurance coverage and state-level revenue protection into a comprehensive program. The individual farm insurance policy is thus more cost effective, allowing farmers to purchase higher coverage levels at a lower cost.
Program Summary and Example
Per-acre State Revenue Target = (Trend yield) x (3-year revenue pre-planting price) x 90%
Per-acre Actual State Revenue = (Actual state yield ) x (Harvest price)
Revenue Portion State revenue target Acres Ratio of Farmer’s
of ACR = minus x planted x production history to x 90%
for a Farm actual state revenue to the crop state expected yield Prepared by the Majority Staff of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry October 17, 2007
ACR Fixed Payment = $15.00 x (covered acres)
Covered acres are the lesser of base acres or acres planted to all covered commodities 2002-2007)
Corn Average Crop Revenue Example
Fixed Portion = $15.00 x 500 acres = $7,500.00
Crop Insurance Indemnity = $18.00 x 500 = $9,000.00
Revenue Portion = ($465.75 - $437.48) x 500 acres x 145/150 x 90% = $12,299.63
Revenue Portion to Crop Insurance Provider = $9,000.00
Total ACR payment to Producer = $7,500.00 + ($12,299.63 - $9,000.00) = $10,799.63
Assumptions:
Acres covered = 500
Acres planted to corn = 500
Expected state trend yield = 150 bushels/acre
Pre-planting price = $3.45/bushel
Actual state yield = 153.5 bushels/acre
Harvest price = $2.85/bushel
Actual production history (APH) yield = 145 bushels/acre
Crop insurance indemnity = $18.00/acre
State expected yield is the state’s linear regression trend yield per planted acre for 1980-2006 crops. If a trend yield cannot be established for a state, yields in similar states are used.
Revenue pre-planting price equals the average of the current and the past two year’s Federal Crop Insurance pre-planting prices. Revenue pre-planting price

More specialty crop programs

I have previously posted details of the specialty crop block grants and the fruit and vegetable program. Here is more detail on other Specialty Crop Programs. This is a section by section analysis of the farm bill markup from the Senate Agriculture Committee:

Subtitle F—Specialty Crop Programs
19October 24, 2007
Sec.1801. Definitions.
Sets out definitions of various terms used throughout the section including ‘specialty crop,’ ‘State,’ and ‘State department of agriculture"
PART I—Marketing, Information, and Education
Sec.1811. Fruit and vegetable market news allocation.
The provision requires the Agricultural Marketing Service to carry out market news activities to provide timely price information on fruits and vegetables in the United States. Authorizes $9,000,000 annually
Sec.1812. Farmers’ market promotion program.
Amends section 6 of the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976 (7 U.S.C. 3005) to reauthorize the Farmers Market Promotion Program. This provision was first authorized in the 2002 farm bill and provides funds to local governments, non-profit corporations, regional farmers’ market authorities or other entities designated by the Secretary to expand farmers markets and roadside stands.
Provides $30,000,000 in mandatory funding.
Sec.1813. Food safety initiatives.
Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a food safety education program to educate the public and the fresh produce industry about practices and methods that will reduce microbial pathogens and cross contamination in fresh produce.
Authorizes $1,000,000.
Sec.1814. Census of specialty crops.
Requires the Secretary to conduct a census of specialty crops to assist in the development and dissemination of specialty crop information. The census of specialty crops may be included in the census on agriculture.
PART II—Organic Production
Sec.1821. Organic data collection and price reporting.
This provision amends Section 2104 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6503) by granting the Secretary authority to segregate data as it relates to the organic industry by publishing organic production and marketing information and surveys. The language is intended to remedy the lack of price and yield information for organic producers.
Provides $5,000,000 in mandatory funding.
Sec.1822. Exemption of certified organic products from assessments.
Current law requires farms to be 100 percent organic to be exempt from assessments from commodity promotion programs for that part of land that is managed as organic. This provision amends Section 501(e) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and
20October 24, 2007
Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7401 (e)) to allow farmers who have some or part of their farm certified organic to receive the exemption.
Sec.1823. National Organic Certification Cost Share Program.
This provision amends Section 10606 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 6523) to reauthorize the National Organic Certification Cost-Share program, which provides funds for the Secretary to assist producers and handlers of agricultural products in obtaining certification under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. Payments to producers or handlers are limited to $750, and the federal share of the certification cost will be no more than 75 percent of the total certification cost incurred.
Provides $22,000,000 in mandatory funding.
Sec.1824. National organic program.
This provision amends section 2123 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6522) to provide increased authorized incremental funding levels for the National Organic Program to ensure proper compliance and oversight of the National Organic Program.
Authorizes $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; $6,500,000 for fiscal year 2009; $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; $9,500,000 for fiscal year 2011; and $11,000,000 for fiscal year 2012.
PART III—International Trade
Sec.1831. Foreign market access study and strategy plan.
This section requires the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a study regarding the extent to which United States specialty crops have or have not benefited from the reduction of foreign trade barriers under the Uruguay Round.
Sec.1832. Market access program.
This provision amends Section 211(c) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5641(c)) to require the Secretary to ensure 50 percent of any funding in excess of $200,000,000 under the Market Access Program be provided to the specialty crop industry.
Sec.1833. Technical assistance for specialty crops.
This provision amends Section 3205 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 5680), which funds projects that address sanitary, phytosanitary, and technical barriers that prohibit or threaten the export of U.S. specialty crops, to allow petition for an extension of a project that will exceed applicable time restrictions.
Provides $19 million over five years, an increase of $24 million from the current baseline.
Sec.1834. Consultations on sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions for fruits and vegetables.
21October 24, 2007
Requires the Secretary to consult with interested persons and conduct annual briefings on sanitary and phytosanitary trade issues, included the development of a strategic risk management framework and as appropriate implementation of a peer review for risk analysis. Additionally, this section amends Section 2104(b)(2)(A)(ii)(II) of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 3804(b)(2)(A)(ii)(II)) to ensure special consultation on import sensitive products.

Looking for mandatory money

Can Sen. Tom Harkin deliver on his promise to provide $1 billion in funding over five years for expansion of the fruit and vegetable program? So far, I haven't seen any language in the Senate Agriculture Committee's section by section analysis of the farm bill markup that indicated the program has secured mandatory funding. If the program merely has budget authorization and not mandatory funds allocated, that would be a setback for industry aspirations for this farm bill. The House-passed farm bill had $70 million in mandatory annual funding for the fruit and vegetable program.

Planting flexibility

Like the House, the Senate Agriculture Committee appears to support the industry's call for continuation of the fruit and vegetable planting prohibition on flex acres, with one rather broad exception. Here is what the Senate Ag Committee's section by section analysis of farm bill markup says about planting flexibility provision:

Sec.1106. Planting flexibility.
Allows any commodity or crop to be planted on base acres on a farm and specifies exceptions for the following: trees, perennial plants, fruits, vegetables (other than mung beans and pulse crops), and wild rice. If planted, these crops may be destroyed before harvest. Specifies situations in which the limitation of these crops may not apply. Provides for a pilot project in Indiana for the production of tomatoes for processing on up to 10,000 base acres during each of the 2008 through 2012 crop years.