Leahy Ensures That Vermont
Is A Big Winner In New Farm Bill –
Major Boosts For State’s Dairy,
Organic,
Anti-Hunger And Lake Champlain Priorities
WASHINGTON (Wednesday, May 14) -- Vermont’s clout in agriculture
policy again is paying big dividends as Congress races to finish work on a new
bipartisan five-year Farm Bill. The House Wednesday passed the newly
negotiated Farm Bill by a veto-proof vote of 318 to 106, and the Senate has set
its vote on the bill for Thursday. The Senate is also expected to pass
the bill with more than enough votes to override a threatened presidential
veto.
The new Farm Bill advances key Vermont agriculture, anti-hunger and
environmental priorities championed by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the most
senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee of either party, who was a
principal architect and negotiator of the bill.
The final version of the Farm Bill, filed in Congress only Tuesday,
would not only renew but also expand the basic safety net for dairy farmers,
the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program; it would bring to Vermont record
levels of funding and wider access to farmland conservation programs that have
become crucial engines in the cleanup of Lake Champlain; it would dramatically
increase support for food banks and the Food Stamp program; and it would offer
more support to help farmers make the transition to the booming organic sector.
“First and foremost,” Leahy said, “this bill makes a
dramatic improvement in the MILC program that will better help Vermont’s
dairy producers compete for a fair price. By adding the feed cost
adjuster, the MILC program target price will help keep pace with skyrocketing
production costs. And increasing the payment rate and eligible production
will be essential when the price of milk drops. These improvements will
help ensure that dairying remains a vital part of Vermont’s economy and
Vermont’s heritage.” Leahy led the MILC negotiations on the
Agriculture Committee, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch
(D-Vt.) worked outside the committee to build support for the plan.
Leahy said improvements in the Farm Bill’s conservation programs
will help limit phosphorus runoff into Vermont’s streams, rivers, and
Lake Champlain. “These conservation programs have helped farmers
become partners in achieving some of Vermont’s most pressing
environmental goals. These investments on the farm are important building
blocks for real on-the-ground action for cleaning up the Lake.”
He said the bill’s anti-hunger efforts will make a difference in
thousands of Vermonters’ lives. “When the economy sputters,
families suffer in many ways, including hunger and poor nutrition. This
bill is a chance to make a bad situation better. More than 53,000
Vermonters rely on federal nutrition programs each year, while thousands more
will receive assistance on an emergency basis to help them through difficult
times. The $10.4 billion in additional anti-hunger relief in this bill is
vital, and it comes at a crucial time.”
Father of the national organic standards and labeling program, Leahy
noted that organic farming has become the fastest-growing sector of American
agriculture and is especially robust in Vermont. “This bill makes
the organic option a realistic option for more farmers in Vermont,” he
said. “That’s good for smaller farms in particular, and
it’s a solid investment in growing Vermont’s economy.”
Below are Vermont highlights of the final 2008 Farm Bill, released
Wednesday by Leahy’s office:
Vermont
Highlights
2008 Farm Bill
May 14, 2008
Renewal & Expansion Of MILC
Program;
More Funds For Lake Champlain Cleanup;
Expanded Help For Vermont’s Anti-Hunger Efforts;
Another Big Boost For Vermont’s Organic Sector
DAIRY
Senator Leahy led a
bipartisan coalition in working for several months to secure renewal of and
improvements to the basic safety net for dairy farmers, the Milk Income Loss
Contract (MILC) program. In the end the MILC program received one of the
largest funding boosts of any commodity in the Farm Bill. In addition to
the difficult achievement of extending the MILC Program for five years, Leahy
and his allies succeeded in including provisions that will expand the MILC
program in three important ways:
1. Feed Cost
Adjuster – For the first time in nearly a decade the $16.94 per
hundred weight MILC target price will increase when feed costs increase.
The new Leahy-authored feed cost adjuster will increase
the MILC target price any time the composite monthly price of feed (corn,
soybeans and alfalfa hay) rises above $7.30 per hundred weight. For the
month of April, for example, the new MILC target price would be $19.13 per
hundred weight.
2. Payment Rate – In 2002 when the MILC program was
established, whenever the federal minimum price for fluid milk in Boston fell
below $16.94 per hundred weight, participating dairy farmers were eligible for
payments on 45 percent of the difference. In the Fiscal Year 2006 Omnibus
Reconciliation Bill, the payment rate was reduced to 34 percent in order to
make it possible to extend the program until the Farm Bill could be rewritten
in 2008. The 2008 Farm Bill will restore the original 45 percent
payment rate for the MILC program.
3. Eligibility
Increase – Currently producers are eligible to receive MILC payments
on 2.4 million pounds of production per year (approximately 125 cows).
The 2008 Farm Bill will increase the eligibility to 2.985 million pounds per
year (approximately 165 cows). Of Vermont’s approximately 1100
dairies that average about 120 cows per operation, more than 85 percent of
Vermont’s farms now would be fully eligible for MILC payments under the
Farm Bill.
Dairy
Product Price Support – The 2008 Farm Bill
establishes individual product prices for cheddar cheese, butter, and
nonfat dry milk.
Commodities
-- The bill extends the current farm safety net through
the 2012 crop year, retaining current base acres and establishing base
acres for newly eligible crops. Target prices for crops are
rebalanced and direct payments are maintained.
Average
Crop Revenue -- A new Average Crop Revenue option is
added for farmers, including fixed payment rates, recourse loans, and a
state-level revenue program for covered commodities and peanuts.
COMMODITY PROGRAM REFORM
The 2008 Farm Bill takes significant strides in reforming who is
eligible to receive commodity program payments. First the bill tightens
the adjusted gross income eligibility test by setting new standards for farm
commodity and disaster program benefit eligibility. To receive farm
program benefits, an individual’s non-farm income may not exceed
$500,000. If farm income exceeds $750,000, an individual will no longer
be eligible to receive direct payments. In addition, this Farm Bill also
increases transparency and accountability through the creation of a new direct
attribution rule which will link farm program payments directly to individuals,
rather than to corporations and partnerships. Finally, the three-entity
rule, which previously enabled a farmer effectively to receive twice the
enacted payment limit, has been eliminated.
CONSERVATION/LAKE
CHAMPLAIN CLEANUP
Agricultural conservation, responsible stewardship and
environmental quality are important to Vermont’s farmers and communities
and were high priorities for Senator Leahy in writing the 2008 Farm Bill.
Several years ago as chairman the Agriculture Committee, Leahy crafted and
enacted the first “Green Farm Bills” which forged partnerships
between farmers and environmental goals, and since then the Farm Bill has
become the most significant ongoing nationwide funding source for conservation
and environmental quality efforts such as the cleanup of Lake Champlain.
Several of Leahy’s conservation initiatives began as pilot programs in
Vermont, proved themselves, and since then have expanded nationwide. Much
of the available funding in the 2008 Farm Bill for Vermont will be directed to
addressing the water quality challenges in the Lake Champlain Basin. This
crucial cleanup funding will be added to the more than $100 million Senator
Leahy has already secured in Lake Champlain cleanup funds.
Environmental
Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) -- A program created by
Senator Leahy in the 1996 Farm Bill, EQIP has quickly become a major factor in
the ongoing efforts to clean up Lake Champlain. Phosphorus levels are one
of the foremost challenges in the Lake’s restoration, and EQIP helps
producers implement new practices that reduce the phosphorus loading in the
Lake and its tributaries. With an increase in funding of $3.4 billion over ten years, the
program will continue to help producers comply with the State of
Vermont’s water quality regulations and assist dairies in implementing
environmentally beneficial changes in their operations.
Farmland
Protection Program (FPP) -- The highly successful and popular
Farmland Protection Program was created by Senator Leahy in the 1996 Farm Bill
and grew out of Vermont’s “Farms for the Future” program.
Preserving Vermont's agricultural lands helps to combat urban sprawl and
keep Vermont farms viable. Funding for FPP will be increased by more than
$700 million over the life of the Farm Bill, allowing FPP to provide matching
funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive Vermont farms
in agricultural uses. Total FPP enrollment in Vermont since inception of
the program is 50,000 acres.
$15
Million Small State Minimum – The Leahy “Regional
Equity” provision he sponsored in the 2002 Farm Bill will be
increased from $12 million to $15 million a year per state. This
Leahy effort helps bring more Farm Bill resources to Vermont and other
Northeastern states. This Leahy provision requires that Vermont and
each state receive an allocation of at least $15 million a year in the
following working-lands conservation programs: EQIP, FPP, Grassland
Reserve Program, and the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program. This
small state minimum guarantees that states like Vermont will receive the
necessary program funding to better help farmers in their stewardship of
the land.
Agricultural
Management Assistance (AMA) – A program especially
important to Vermont, AMA provides $15 million a year in mandatory funding
to agricultural producers to voluntarily address issues such as water
management, water quality and erosion control, by incorporating
conservation into their farming operations.
Public
Access – The bill will create a new $50 million
grant program for states that run programs to encourage owners of private
land to allow public access for wildlife-related recreation such as
hunting, fishing and birding.
ORGANICS
As the father of the national organic standards and
labeling program and author of the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act, Senator
Leahy remains organic agriculture’s leading champion and has again made
the further development of organic agriculture a top priority in the Farm
Bill. Vermont has taken a strong leadership role in transiting to organic
agriculture and now leads in the nation on a per capita basis in organic farm
conversions – now with more than 500 organic operations; more than 200
are dairies. In Vermont and elsewhere across the country, organic agriculture
also is beginning to create major new export opportunities for U.S. farm
products.
Organic
Certification Cost Share – The 2008 Farm Bill
provides $22 million in guaranteed funding for a national organic
certification cost share program to assist producers of agricultural
products in obtaining certification under the National Organic Program
established by Leahy under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990.
Each producer will be eligible for a reimbursement of up to 75 percent of
the costs of certification, not to exceed $750 annually. Last year
Vermont producers received $165,000 under this Leahy-led effort to assist
organic certification.
Organic
Conversion Assistance -- The 2008 Farm Bill will expand
eligibility of the Environmental Qualities Incentives Program (EQIP
– see above) to
directly assist producers by defraying the substantial costs of
implementing conservation practices when transiting to organic
production. During the required three-year conversion process,
producers – especially smaller farms -- often struggle to complete
the conversion to organic production. This new initiative will offer
producers up to $20,000 per year for up to four years of financial
assistance to help in the conversion to organic production.
Organic
Data Collection -- The Farm Bill will provide $5 million
in mandatory funds to ensure that data on the production and marketing of
organic agricultural products is included in USDA’s collection of
data about agricultural production and marketing. This mandate and
these funds are vital in establishing adequate crop insurance coverage for
organic crops in the future.
Organic
Research -- The Farm Bill makes a major commitment for
the first time to funding research in organic agriculture. The bill
provides $78 million in new mandatory funds for organic agriculture
research and extension, to enhance the ability of organic producers and
processors to grow and market organic food, feed and fiber.
Organic
Crop Insurance Reform – The bill will bar USDA
from charging unnecessary and unwarranted premium surcharges on organic
crop insurance policies.
NUTRITION
The nutrition title of the Farm Bill, like the
Senate’s earlier version, contains crucial anti-hunger efforts such as
strengthening the Food Stamp Program and The Emergency Food Assistance
Program. Senator Leahy has long been a leader on these programs, which
offer a vital safety net to millions of Americans and thousands of
Vermonters. In recent months the number of Vermonters receiving Food
Stamps has risen to a 15-year high, with more than 53,000 individuals receiving
Food Stamp help. The new funding for the Food Stamp program in the Farm
Bill will mean that as many as 23,000 Vermonters will receive as much as $1.5
million in new food assistance each year. The bill includes initiatives
to encourage better health and nutrition for children and seniors and to
support self-sufficiency and food security in low-income communities. It
also includes a new program authored by Leahy that will assist low-income
people by helping food banks acquire perishable food that would otherwise be
wasted.
Strengthening
Food Purchasing Power of Low-Income Vermonters -- When
calculating the Food Stamp help an individual or family receives, the
rules of the program allow a standard deduction for the cost of such items
as housing, utilities and transportation. A decade ago, the standard
deduction was frozen at $134, a move that has caused significant erosion
in the purchasing power of Food Stamps, as costs for these items have
risen and benefits have not kept pace. The 2008 Farm Bill increases
the standard deduction from $134 to $144 and indexes it to inflation,
ending the erosion of benefits and increasing Food Stamp assistance for
20,000 Vermont families.
Working
Families with Childcare Expenses -- Food Stamp rules
allow households to deduct up to $175 per month for the cost of childcare,
but this deduction has not been adjusted in more than a decade and now
covers only about a quarter of the monthly cost of childcare in the United
States. To better support working families, the 2008 Farm Bill will
eliminate the existing cap on the deductibility of childcare
expenses. As many as 1000 Vermont families are expected to benefit
from this provision.
Food
Stamp Asset Reform -- Despite broad agreement about the
importance of family savings, the Food Stamp “asset test” has
remained largely unchanged since implemented in 1977 and fails to exempt
tax-preferred savings accounts from the current asset limit. To encourage
savings among low-income families, the 2008 Farm Bill will increase the
current asset limit to keep pace with inflation and exempts tax-preferred
education and retirement accounts from counting against the asset
limit.
Minimum
Benefit – When calculating the monthly benefit for
a Food Stamp recipient, if the amount they are eligible for is less than
$10 they are guaranteed the minimum benefit. Seniors and individuals
with disabilities make up a significant portion of households that receive
the minimum benefit, which for more than 30 years has remained at
$10. For the more than 3000 Vermonters who receive the minimum
benefit, the 2008 Farm Bill will increase the level to $14 a month and
index it to keep pace with increases in the cost of food.
The
Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) -- TEFAP
provides commodity food products to food banks across the country, which
then distribute those products to food pantries and other community food
providers. The Farm Bill will provide more than $1.2 billion in
mandatory commodity purchases for distribution through food banks.
This will nearly double the commodity purchasing clout the Farm
Bill will offer to the Vermont Foodbank, with an additional $1
million through the first five years of the bill -- enough to provide
770,000 additional meals for low-income Vermonters through the food bank
and local food shelves.
Fruit
and Vegetable Program -- To promote child health and
nutrition, the Farm Bill expands the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to
include every state in the country, targeting those benefits to low-income
children. The proposed funding level would ensure that Vermont
receives at least $2.25 million a year to assist in providing free fresh
fruits and vegetables to children at school.
Senior
Farmers Markets and Community Food Projects -- Funding
for two programs fathered by Senator Leahy -- the Senior Farmers Market
Program (which provides vouchers for WIC recipients and low-income seniors
to use at farmers markets), and Community Food Projects, (which promote
self-sufficiency and food security in low-income communities) – are
increased by $5 million annually in assured funding in the Farm
Bill. In Vermont, Community Food Project grants have supported the
farm-to-school projects which increase access to fresh, healthy, local
Vermont foods.
Rural
Food Bank Infrastructure Grant Program – After
consultations with the Vermont Foodbank about the amount of food --
especially perishable items -- that could be donated to charity but
instead are wasted, Senator Leahy proposed the creation of a new targeted
grant initiative. This new program in the Farm Bill will provide
grants to assist emergency food organizations in acquiring some of the 96
billion pounds of food that are wasted each year. For example, the
Vermont Foodbank typically cannot afford to receive donated produce from
west of the Mississippi due to the high cost of transportation. This
means that substantial amounts of fresh produce available from Western
specialty crop states are lost to low-income Vermonters during the winter
months when local sources are not available. By tapping the new
Leahy program, the Vermont Foodbank will be able to provide fresh produce
and healthy food products at no cost to low-income households and
individuals who otherwise could not afford these nutritious foods.
ENERGY/RENEWABLE
ENERGY
Rural
Energy for America Program -- Funded in the Farm Bill at
$250 million, this program (previously
called Sec