The American Soybean
Association (ASA) called for new Farm Bill legislation with specific recommendations to
address the "unfinished agenda" of the 1996 Farm Bill. The economic and trade
environment of U.S. agriculture needs to be changed to reduce production costs and enhance
the competitiveness of U.S. farm exports. ASA identified the following areas that must be
addressed:
- Agricultural trade must be given the same weight in U.S.
economic and foreign policy decisions as accorded by our primary international competitors
and customers.
- Export assistance and promotion programs authorized by the
WTO must be fully and aggressively utilized, as our competitors do.
- Ineffective unilateral economic sanctions that discredit
U.S. reliability as a supplier and encourage our competitors to expand production and
exports must be rescinded and prohibited.
- Funding for U.S. humanitarian assistance programs must be
increased and maintained at a level that reflects the United States' responsibility to
enhance societal, economic, and political stability in developing countries.
- An effective case must be made for modernizing the U.S.
transportation infrastructure, including the lock and dam system on the Mississippi and
Illinois Rivers.
- Barriers to U.S. farm exports based on non-scientific
standards, including restrictions on biotechnology trade, must be challenged and overcome.
- Funding for agricultural research must be restored and
increased.
- Unnecessarily onerous regulations that increase agricultural
production costs must be either compensated or eliminated.
In addition to establishing conditions that will foster a
competitive environment for U.S. agriculture, ASA supports domestic farm programs that are
equitable and balanced among all loan-eligible crops that can be planted on the same
cropland on a farm.
ASA supports full and unrestricted planting flexibility,
continuation of non-recourse marketing loans, no statutory authority to impose set-asides,
and no authority to establish government or farmer-owned reserves for oilseeds. In
addition, ASA opposes any limitations on marketing loan benefits, fixed income payments,
or any counter-cyclical income support payments.
ASA supports maintaining current oilseed loan rates for
2002 crops, and setting these rates as floors rather than ceilings under the next farm
bill. The formula for adjusting loan levels to 85 percent of Olympic average prices in the
previous five years should be retained, and discretion should be provided to the Secretary
to set loan levels above the floor when prices warrant.
The next Farm Bill should provide voluntary incentive
payments to encourage improved conservation practices, increased funding for export
promotion and assistance programs, and for foreign food assistance. Food aid should be
based on a minimum annual tonnage commitment, which should not be subject to variations in
production and the availability of surpluses.
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