Vilsack notes farm bill implementation at six months; can’t fix Lucas APH history complaint
August 06, 2014 | 04:07 PM
On the eve of the six-month anniversary of the 2014 farm bill, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters he is proud of USDA’s record on implementation, but noted that farmers will not be able to update their actual production history records until the 2016 crop year.
President Barack Obama signed the farm bill on February 7.
In a telephone news conference, Vilsack said he was particularly pleased that USDA has been able to process more than 165,000 applications for disaster assistance. USDA has already paid out more than $1.8 billion, he said, adding he expects the total disaster payments to exceed $2 billion.
He also noted that USDA has made progress in implementing new crop insurance measures, including the whole farm policy and the supplemental coverage option and the new STAX program for cotton.
But Vilsack said he would not be able to satisfy the request of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., that USDA make it possible for some farmers to update their actual production history, or APH, to exclude years in which their yields are more than 50 percent below the 10-year average for their county. That change would change their benefits.
Lucas has suggested that USDA could at least allow farmers in some drought-plagued counties to update their histories.
But Vilsack said today that the work on the APH would have to be done by the same USDA officials in the Farm Service Agency and the general counsel’s office who are focused on broader farm bill implementation issues.
“We had a choice to make in terms of allocating assets,” he said. “We are trying to get work done that was mandated by Congress,” adding that he felt it was important to move on STAX, SCO and the commodity programs known as PLC and ARC.
In addition, Vilsack added, updating APH is “complex” because it involves computations for each farmer based on each commodity and county statistics.
“It is very IT intense and labor and staff intense,” he said.
“I don’t know how feasible it is for an individual crop or counties to be designated,” Vilsack said. “What if you have a multitude of producers in one county, only a few in another county. Those are decisions that have to be made if you want to single out commodities.”
“I appreciate the concern of the chairman. Obviously he is concerned about his producers,” he said, but he added that if USDA focused on APH and did not get the work done on the programs, Lucas “would be equally concerned about all producers.”
The new dairy margin insurance program, Vilsack said, will be in place by the time producers need it. Although House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., has said he worries that USDA is not doing enough to inform dairy producers about that program, Vilsack said dairy producers will have plenty of time to enroll before it goes into effect.
Vilsack also cited the administration’s release of the regional conservation partnership program, which has received 586 initial proposals, the establishment of the research foundation in the bill, and the launch of specialty crop block grand and organic research programs. He also directed the public to the USDA farm bill implementation website for more details.
▪ USDA — Progress on 2014 Farm Bill Implementation
President Barack Obama signed the farm bill on February 7.
In a telephone news conference, Vilsack said he was particularly pleased that USDA has been able to process more than 165,000 applications for disaster assistance. USDA has already paid out more than $1.8 billion, he said, adding he expects the total disaster payments to exceed $2 billion.
He also noted that USDA has made progress in implementing new crop insurance measures, including the whole farm policy and the supplemental coverage option and the new STAX program for cotton.
But Vilsack said he would not be able to satisfy the request of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., that USDA make it possible for some farmers to update their actual production history, or APH, to exclude years in which their yields are more than 50 percent below the 10-year average for their county. That change would change their benefits.
Lucas has suggested that USDA could at least allow farmers in some drought-plagued counties to update their histories.
But Vilsack said today that the work on the APH would have to be done by the same USDA officials in the Farm Service Agency and the general counsel’s office who are focused on broader farm bill implementation issues.
“We had a choice to make in terms of allocating assets,” he said. “We are trying to get work done that was mandated by Congress,” adding that he felt it was important to move on STAX, SCO and the commodity programs known as PLC and ARC.
In addition, Vilsack added, updating APH is “complex” because it involves computations for each farmer based on each commodity and county statistics.
“It is very IT intense and labor and staff intense,” he said.
“I don’t know how feasible it is for an individual crop or counties to be designated,” Vilsack said. “What if you have a multitude of producers in one county, only a few in another county. Those are decisions that have to be made if you want to single out commodities.”
“I appreciate the concern of the chairman. Obviously he is concerned about his producers,” he said, but he added that if USDA focused on APH and did not get the work done on the programs, Lucas “would be equally concerned about all producers.”
The new dairy margin insurance program, Vilsack said, will be in place by the time producers need it. Although House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., has said he worries that USDA is not doing enough to inform dairy producers about that program, Vilsack said dairy producers will have plenty of time to enroll before it goes into effect.
Vilsack also cited the administration’s release of the regional conservation partnership program, which has received 586 initial proposals, the establishment of the research foundation in the bill, and the launch of specialty crop block grand and organic research programs. He also directed the public to the USDA farm bill implementation website for more details.
▪ USDA — Progress on 2014 Farm Bill Implementation
