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News from Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
For Immediate Release
Contact: Chip Weiskotten, 202-226-8553
Russ Levsen, 202-226-4449

2007 FARM BILL PASSES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – INCLUDES STRONG SAFETY NET AND COMMON SENSE REFORMS

Herseth Sandlin Leads Efforts to Preserve Safety Net for Rural America by Defeating Amendment to Gut Critical Support Provisions

Bill Includes Mandatory COOL; Herseth Sandlin Amendments to Delay Closure of FSA Offices, Increase Rural Broadband Access, Invest in Cellulosic Ethanol Research and Assist Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

July 27, 2007, Washington, D.C. – The 2007 Farm Bill passed the full U.S. House of Representatives today, marking a milestone victory for farm and ranch families in South Dakota and across rural America. U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin helped craft the bill in the Agriculture Committee and led efforts on the House floor to protect the strong safety net for American agriculture contained in the bill. Importantly, the bill also includes significant and unprecedented reforms to cut down on fraud and abuse, as well as to better target the program to small- and medium-sized family producers.

Rep. Herseth Sandlin said, “The bill we passed from the House today includes common sense reforms, but at the same time preserves the safety net necessary to ensure that South Dakota producers can continue to provide American families with the safest, most abundant and most affordable food supply in the world.”

Last night, Rep. Herseth Sandlin spoke on the House floor in opposition to an amendment from Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) that would have stripped the bill of most of its key support provisions critical to American agriculture. Rep. Herseth Sandlin said, “Pulling out the safety net from producers in rural America would likely increase the price of food in this country and devastate rural economies, like ours in South Dakota. It also would lead to the outsourcing of U.S. food production, making ours a nation that has to depend on other countries to provide us with food. A reliable domestic food supply is an issue of national security.”

She continued, “A good, well-designed, balanced safety net, like the one contained in this Farm Bill, provides family producers with the bridge they need during tough times to stay on the land and hand the operation off to next generation.”

The next step in the legislative process is consideration by the United States Senate. Rep. Herseth Sandlin said, “This Farm Bill not only does right by South Dakota producers, it benefits every corner of the state through strong and smart incentives for our rural economy. I am hopeful and optimistic that the Senate will preserve the important priorities for South Dakota contained in the House bill.”

The bill includes a framework agreement regarding country-of-origin labeling (COOL) that maintains the mandatory nature of the law, as well as a requirement that only animals born, raised and slaughtered in this country can receive a USA label. Rep. Herseth Sandlin is a long-time proponent of mandatory COOL and helped ensure that the provision remained in the final bill.

Additionally, other amendments and provisions authored by Rep. Herseth Sandlin and added to the bill include:

Delay USDA County Office Closures

The bill prevents the Farm Service Agency, the Rural Development Agency, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service from closing any county or field offices for one year after the enactment of the overall Farm Bill.

Strengthen Sodsaver

This amendment removed a provision from the bill that would have allowed local FSA county committees to waive the “sodsaver” provisions in the bill. The sodsaver provisions deny crop insurance on any crops planted in newly converted native sod for the first four years after that land is broken, and therefore enhance soil quality and conservation by protecting native sod and grassland.

Access to Broadband Internet in Rural America

The Rural Development title includes Rep. Herseth Sandlin’s legislation to improve access to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas. It ensures Rural Utility Service (RUS) broadband loans will be directed to companies providing service to unserved households, like many areas in South Dakota and rural America. The changes made in the Farm Bill show important progress in the effort to reform the RUS Broadband Loan Program.

Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

The bill includes language sponsored by Rep. Herseth Sandlin and Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota to help beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers succeed in agriculture and ensure that family-based agriculture in this country thrives for generations to come.

Public Television Digital Transition Grant Program

This amendment to the Rural Development Title of the Farm Bill allows the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to enable Public Television Stations in South Dakota and other rural areas to upgrade from analog to digital broadcasting equipment, facilities and infrastructure. The program responds to the unique distribution and fundraising challenges presented to rural Public Television stations serving sparsely populated communities.

Enzyme Feedstocks

This amendment broadens the technologies that are eligible for funding under the Biomass Research and Development Initiative to include promising research to develop plants that are engineered to contain cellulose enzymes within the plant.

Agronomist on the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

This amendment directs the Secretary of Agriculture to include an individual on the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee with expertise in agronomy, crop science, or soil science.

Finally, the bill includes a number of meaningful reforms including:

• A hard cap of $1 million on average adjusted gross income (AGI) for eligibility to receive farm program payments, a 60% reduction from the current limit of $2.5 million.
  
• It requires that those with AGI of $500,000 or greater must receive at least two-thirds of their income from farm, ranch or forestry sources in order to receive any farm program payments.
  
• The bill eliminates the three-entity rule that has allowed individual producers to collect as much as double the current limit on farm program payments, and requires direct attribution of farm program payments to the individuals who receive them – a key transparency measure. Both of these reforms will crack down on those who try to game and abuse the system.
  
• Additionally, the bill reduces the total payment cap for direct and counter-cyclical payments for a single farmer from $210,000 to $125,000, a reduction of more than 40 percent.

# # #

Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin serves South Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats committed to fiscal discipline and strong national security, and is co-chair of the Rural Working Group, which is dedicated to raising the profile of issues important to rural America. She also serves on three committees vital to South Dakota’s interests: Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs and Natural Resources. In the 110th Congress, Rep. Herseth Sandlin was appointed to serve on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.