Farm bill tomorrow

The Farm Bill tomorrow:

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate-House Conference Committee on the farm bill, today announced a meeting for all Senate and House farm bill conferees.
The conference committee is scheduled for Thursday, April 17, 2008, at 2:00 PM in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.

The proceedings will be available live via audio at http://agriculture.senate.gov/.

One week extension but what will the White House do?

In this afternoon's farm bill conference session Sen. Harkin asked Chuck Conner if the White House would support a one week extension, and Conner wasn't very encouraging. At 2 p.m., Conner said the farm bill hadn't shown enough progress to warrant an extension. Meanwhile, House and Senate leaders called the White House to come to the table and start actively engaging in the process of finding money for the farm bill.. The conference was adjourned in advance of a House vote and will reconvene tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.


Here is reaction to the White House balk from Sen. Harkin:
STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN TOM HARKIN (D-IA)

“It seems every time Congress advances this farm bill, the White House has to throw up another obstacle to the bill’s completion. It’s like we’ve pulled up in the combine for harvest, only to see a big boulder in the middle of the field setting us back.

“Congress needs the White House’s support if we are ever going to get the President a bill he can sign. The conference committee cleared three titles of the bill yesterday and continues to make progress toward a good, strong bill. It’s unfortunate that the President is threatening to cut short the work that’s been done thus far.”

Another rosy report on Fresh & Easy

Guest blogger Lance Jungmeyer here ...

The hometown press sure goes easier on Tesco than other media, it seems. In addition to The Independent news story referenced in the following post, here is a wire story about Tesco's profit statements.

There have been numerous reports of Fresh & Easy locations missing sales targets by 50% or more. Yet, the article quotes Tesco's statements:

"We are very encouraged by the start Fresh & Easy has made," Tesco said in its earnings statement.

"The first stores opened only in November and we now have over 60 trading. Whilst it is still early days, the response of customers to our offer has surpassed our expectations ... Sales are ahead of budget," it added.

If sales were indeed ahead of budget, clearly Tesco would not be taking a three-month hiatus from opening new locations.

What is striking is how at least one UK analyst laps this up. The story quotes Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

"Tesco has yet again confounded its doubters, not only with another sparkling set of figures, but also with an upbeat accompanying statement which sets it apart from the crowd," he said.

It is true that overall profits for the retailer are up more than 12%. But from this side of the pond, all that anyone wants to know is this: what are the real numbers at Fresh & Easy?

Don't hold your breath waiting for an official answer from Tesco.

Tesco's retort

Tesco's profits were stronger than expected, and U.S. sales outstripped expectations, says this report about the retailer's latest financial report. From The Independent:


Tesco also controversially targeted the US last year with the launch of its first Fresh & Easy store in November. Critics were predicting it would become the latest international retailer to fail in an assault on the US, yet yesterday the group was bullish over the performance of the now 60-strong chain. It shrugged off rumours of widespread underperformance, saying Fresh & Easy had beaten budget expectations. The group did admit that the trading losses were £62m, which would rise this year to £100m before falling as the stores mature.
Sir Terry said: "It is now 167 days since opening our first Fresh & Easy store. So we are only a few weeks into a project that will last a generation. I'm encouraged by what I see. The performance will be much better than we expected." The group hopes to open 150 new stores in the US this year and believes the business will break even in its second full financial year.

A reason to sing

I went out walking last night, and I'm glad I did. The weather was near perfect - just cool enough for a jacket - but the skies were crystal clear and the sunset yellow orange. The best part of the walk was making my way to the Lincoln Memorial and finding a high school singing group holding an impromptu concert on the marble steps. By then the Memorial was illuminated and night had fallen. This group - one of a great throng of student tours in town - attracted a semicircle of onlookers, including me, appreciating the chance to hear one patriotic song after another. The group sang and I looked down at the reflecting pool, the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol in the distance. God Bless America, indeed.

Reaching for H2A reform

One lobbyist in town said it is not uncommon to hold back comments on rulemaking until the last possible moment, so as not to give away any strategic advantage to those in the opposition and also to check the docket to see what the opposition may be saying. With the comment period on the Administration's H2A reforms just closing, here is a press release from the Farm Bureau describing what they like and don't like:

From the Farm Bureau:


Revisions to the H2A temporary worker program will be a critical component to the success of farmers and ranchers keeping food production in America. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, labor challenges will force more and more farmers to use the program in spite of well-documented pitfalls, while other farmers who face labor shortages continue to be unable to use the program at all.

In comments submitted today to the Department of Labor, AFBF recommended a number of revisions to the H2A program to help alleviate a serious shortage in the number of available agricultural workers. AFBF encouraged DOL’s efforts to move toward a market-based wage in the H2A program and said the existing method for setting wages has “outlived its usefulness.”

The H2A program currently mandates an “adverse effect wage rate” that forces growers to pay wages higher than the market – on top of housing and transportation costs, according to AFBF. In some cases, those requirements make the program impossible to use from an economic standpoint.

“Growers have been clamoring for years for a more sensible, market-based wage,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “We are hopeful the Labor Department can implement this reform in an open, transparent manner that makes it easier for farmers and ranchers to use the program.”

Other reforms AFBF supported in its comments were: eliminating the 50 percent rule regarding domestic recruitment; providing a housing voucher for program users; and including packing and processing employees, as well as the dairy sector, as part of the program.

Farm Bureau also asked the department to change some of its proposals. AFBF said the 120-day recruitment requirement was far too long and should be cut to no more than 60 days. AFBF also called for fundamental due-process reforms in the department’s proposed debarment process, and it strongly urged the department to scale back the enormous increase in fees it was proposing for program participants.

In comments to a companion rule proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, AFBF urged DHS not to change its existing treatment of sheepherders and how it treats them under its visa provisions.

Conference to take up work again today

From the office of Sen. Tom Harkin:

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate-House Conference Committee on the farm bill, today announced a meeting for all Senate and House farm bill conferees.

The conference committee is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16, 2008, at 1:30 PM in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.
The proceedings will be available live via audio at http://agriculture.senate.gov/.