Adams Lays Out Farm Bill Possibilities

Gary Adams

Three potential scenarios regarding the continuing 2014 Farm Bill debate are possible before the one-year extension of the current Farm Bill expires on September 30, according to Gary Adams. But Adams, vice president of economics and policy analysis for the National Cotton Council, says it’s probably best that cotton growers – or anyone in agriculture – not get their hopes too high.

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Adams, speaking at the Southern Cotton Ginners Association meeting in Biloxi, MS, emphasized that the best case scenario would still require the House to finalize its nutrition work in time for informal conferencing in August, followed by the formal House/Senate conference and bill finalization, passage and signing by the end of September.

“It’s all good if the best case works out,” stated Adams. “But we’ve been working on this Farm Bill since 2011, so the best case is probably not the most likely case.”

Despite the hard work of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, other possible scenarios could have the House/Senate conference work stretching out beyond September 30, in which case the Farm Bill could get tied up in other, larger legislative packages, potentially involving the debt ceiling or a continuing resolution. Or, if there’s no agreement on a new Farm Bill, additional extensions of the current bill could be possible.

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“Both of those latter options create some challenges for all of agriculture, including cotton,” said Adams.

“A delayed Farm Bill that starts to stretch out into October is a problem, because many of the enhancements we’re looking for – like the new STAX insurance product for cotton – face some definite timelines from the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) in order to get insurance products out to agents and eventually to producers,” he explained. “As we get later in the year, that window becomes very narrow in terms of getting something ready for 2014.

“If we go the other way and an extension becomes a possibility, keep in mind that a one-year extension would put us in an election year,” he continued. “I don’t think there’s any interest in the agriculture committees to try to repeat this process again next year.”

Another extension of the current bill would also mean another year of the same programs for cotton that were found to be at fault in the Brazil ruling by the World Trade Association. “It’s getting more difficult to try to continue the same program when you have Brazil holding the threat of retaliation as we go forward,” he added.

“The unfortunate thing is it does create a lot of uncertainty for growers and for the industry as a whole,” said Adams. “And I’m afraid that uncertainty is going to be with us for the next several months. We’re continuing to be involved in the Farm Bill process and to work with RMA to make sure that we can help do other things in terms of crop insurance outside of the Farm Bill and try to make those products available to growers.”

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