Back from New Orleans

Flew back from New Orleans last night. Some more impressions from the 89th annual convention of the Farm Bureau:

* I asked Bob Stallman what he meant when he said that Farm Bureau "needed to hear" the message that Acting Secretary Chuck Conner delivered. He responded that Farm Bureau members needed to hear for themselves what the Administration's policy is (veto threat if bill contains budget gimmicks and tax increases), not that Conner's message will change Farm Bureau's position. In effect, Stallman said Congress and the Administration fund what they want to fund. The real gimmicks and games are going on between Republicans and Democrats, and what farmers want is a farm bill. This sets up a couple of very interesting months on Capitol Hill. President Bush's veto threat is credible, but it anguished Acting Secretary Chuck Conner to deliver it.

* A session on climate change and agriculture revealed that some farmers do not buy into the idea of global warming and climate change. What Farm Bureau wants, Stallman said, is to have any legislation and outcomes to do no harm to the farming community. California's mandates on climate change could have a huge impact on growers starting in 2012. More on that later....