Dateline: August 9, 2001

Summit to focus on agriculture policy  

LUBBOCK – Texas farmers and ranchers can learn more about agricultural policy and the latest proposed farm bill from national and state leaders at the Texas Agricultural Policy Summit to be held Aug. 13-14 at the Holiday Inn Park Plaza in Lubbock.

The summit will attract producers, lenders, agribusiness representatives, environmental and natural resource stakeholders, and rural community leaders. Registration is $80 per person.

“The goal of the summit is to focus on policy changes under consideration by state and national agriculture leaders, and to better understand the likely consequences for Texas agriculture and the rural community,” said Dr. Abner Womack, summit committee co-chair and director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University.

US Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman will highlight the two-day summit on Aug. 14, speaking on the role of the USDA in defining priority issues. The same day, a panel of federal officials, including US Reps. Larry Combest and Charles Stenholm, both of Texas, will host an afternoon discussion focusing on national policy issues and expected farm bill modifications.

Combest chairs the US House Agriculture Committee, and Stenholm is the ranking minority member on the committee.

State Rep. Gary Walker and State Sen. Robert Duncan will provide a panel discussion on Texas agricultural and natural resource policy. Walker chairs the Texas House Committee on Land and Resource Management. Duncan is vice chair of the Texas Senate Committee on Natural Resources.

The summit will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 13, featuring Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs, who will discuss challenges and issues for Texas agriculture. Combs’ address will be followed by a discussion of issues underlying the farm bill debate, led by Dr. Ronald D. Knutson, Texas Cooperative Extension economist.

Dr. Abner Womack and Dr. Ed Smith, Texas Cooperative Extension economists, will start Tuesday, Aug. 14, with an 8:15 a.m. discussion about the outlook and alternatives for the current farm program.

H.R. 2646, the farm bill legislation recently proposed by the US House of Representatives, has been analyzed by economists at the Agricultural and Policy Food Center at Texas A&M and the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) – a joint institute between the University of Missouri and Iowa State University. Estimated consequences will be presented for all major crops and livestock, plus representative farms in Texas and other major producing states nationally.

Smith noted important additions were made under the proposed bill, including allowing producers to update their base acreage on which program payments would be paid, giving the producer a choice.

“They can either accept what their current base acres are under the current AMTA (Agricultural Market Transition Act) payment, or they can adjust their base acreage to be equivalent to the average plantings in the 1998-2001 period,” Smith said.

A counter-cyclical program was also added in the bill. A counter-cyclical program essentially acts as an income support for farmers, and is tied to a target price. If the market price is less than the target price, a portion of the difference is made up to the farmer.

“That counter-cyclical provision provides the downside safety net that was missing in the 1996 farm bill, and the hope is that it will offset pressure on Congress to pass ad hoc disaster legislation each year,” he said.

The Womack and Smith discussion will be followed by Mike Dwyer, chief economist with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. He will discuss “Agricultural Trade Implications - Who Wins and Loses In A Global Market?”

Roddy Peeples, senior farm broadcaster with the Southwest Agriculture Radio Network, will provide closing remarks.

For more information, contact Cady Auckerman at (979) 862-1771. A summit registration form is online at http://agsummit.tamu.edu .