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Thune, Herseth Sandlin dig in for farm bill debate
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FarkRAPID CITY — Money problems and scheduling delays could mean Congress won’t finish the much-anticipated 2007 farm bill until 2008 or 2009, U.S. Sen. John Thune said Monday.
But Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is more optimistic that the bill can be approved this year, and in a form providing a financial safety net for farmers, continuing essential conservation programs and allowing timely implementation of mandatory country-of-origin meat labeling.
Thune and Herseth Sandlin were in Rapid City on Monday for separate appearances that touched on the same issue: the federal farm bill, a daunting, budget-busting assortment of strings-attached appropriations that shapes agriculture policy in the United States.
Speaking during a public meeting at Rapid City Central High School, Thune said the House and Senate face a shrinking window of time to approve a farm bill that is agreeable to both and stays within an already-stressed budget. If they fail, farm policy would likely stay as is through an extension of the existing farm bill, which was approved in 2002 and remains generally popular with farmers, he said.
The Bush administration is opposed to that continuation, as it would delay reforms the White House believes are needed, the South Dakota Republican said.
“Realistically, it’s possible that we will need to extend the current farm bill a year or two,” Thune said. “There are a lot of pieces to this thing that we are trying to put together.”
Thune said the Senate version of the bill is already a budget buster, and key provisions haven’t even been added.
“It’s already $8 billion over budget, and they haven’t done conservation or commodities yet,” he said. “There’s some really weird stuff going on.”
Herseth Sandlin met Monday morning with directors of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association as part of an information-gathering outreach to farm groups to help her prepare for the farm bill debate. The stockgrowers meeting focused on the need to continue restrictions on importation of Canadian cattle and beef, to implement country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements and amend the ongoing development of a National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
Herseth Sandlin, a Democrat who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, noted a split between livestock groups on the NAIS question. But she also said the stockgrowers have legitimate worries about the way the U.S. Department of Agriculture is implementing the animal identification system.
Herseth Sandlin expects the I.D. issue to flare up in committee.
“This is going to be one of the fights were going to have on the House Ag Committee,” she said. “Because I think I am outnumbered, and there are more people who want animal I.D. than those who don’t.”
Belvidere rancher Kenny Fox, chairman of animal I.D. committees for the stockgrowers and the Ranchers-Cattleman Action Legal Fund USA, said the federal push for animal I.D. seems to be aimed at eliminating the current brand system used by states, including South Dakota. The way the I.D. issue is being implemented, it could abuse constitutional privacy protections and threaten property rights, Fox said.
“We’re not against animal I.D. per se,” Fox said. “We’re just against the way it’s being presented to us.”
Rather than throw out the brand system, it could be used in conjunction with a more responsible form of animal identification, Fox said.
“Why reinvent the wheel? Let’s use what we’ve got and coordinate,” he said.
Herseth Sandlin said she would demand that any I.D. system be designed to preserve the confidential information of individual producers and not saddle them with additional costs. Federal agriculture officials also have an obligation to reach out to stockgrowers with an understandable lack of trust, she said.
“That distrust is quite evident and quite legitimate,” she said.
Herseth Sandlin expects the full House Agriculture Committee to consider the farm bill in July. Despite difficult funding issues, she has been told by Chairman Collin Petersen, D-Minn., that the bill can be moved out before the August recess.
The debate on the bill could spark another battle over implementation of country of origin labeling. After years of delay, COOL is set to go into effect in 2008. Thune said he heard rumbling in the House about an effort to derail that time frame.
Herseth Sandlin said she is working with Peterson to head off any such effort.
Herseth Sandlin and Thune agreed that the Stockgrowers have legitimate worries about the USDA move to allow more cattle and beef imports from Canada, where sporadic cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) have been reported.
“We put ourselves at great risk when Canada has had so many problems with BSE,” Herseth Sandlin said.
Responding to the issue when it was raised at the public meeting by South Dakota Stockgrowers President Rick Fox of Hermosa, Thune said he would consider supporting a resolution against the relaxed restrictions.
“If we have reason to believe their herd is not safe, I think we need to take steps to protect the American consumer” and cattle producers, Thune said.
Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin listens to area ranchers Rich Fox and Mark Tubbs as Kenny Fox of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association looks on. Herseth Sandlin and Sen. John Thune made separate appearances in Rapid City on Monday to discuss the same issue: the federal farm bill. (Dick Kettlewell/Journal staff)
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