Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry passed its Food and Energy Security Act Thursday, sending the five-year, $288 billion legislation to the full Senate for a debate expected next week. The bill is commonly known as the 2007 Farm Bill.
Senate agriculture committee chairman Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, held a conference call with reporters Thursday afternoon, highlighting the bill's reforms to the commodity payment system.
"After months of hard work and spirited negotiation, I'm pleased to announce that the Senate Agriculture Committee has just passed, by unanimous voice vote, the 2007 Farm Bill," said Harkin.
The committee chairman stressed the fact that senators were able to work within financial constraints to bring the bill together under budget without resorting to deficit spending.
Harkin highlighted a new program included in the bill, the Average Crop Revenue Program, which will be provided as a non-mandatory replacement for some other commodity payment programs. "It will give farmers an option, whether they want to stick with the old ways of doing things, or they want to try something new." The program, now called "ACR," was one of the final points of the farm bill agreed upon by the agriculture committee Thursday. "It's about time that we started getting some reforms in and we start moving our farm programs in a different direction," he said.
Harkin touted the fact that the bill extends "key conservation programs," such as the Conservation Stewardship Program, which he said will be expanded to cover 80 million acres in five years. Other environmental programs were included in the farm bill that will assist landowners with conservation practices on wetlands and grasslands.
Mandatory country-of-origin labeling on most fresh food products will be enacted and strengthened under the bill, Harkin said.
The energy title of the bill will spend approximately $1.1 billion on new renewable fuels initiatives, and most of that spending will be geared toward biorefineries for cellulosic ethanol, he said. The initiatives will also assist farmers with the transition to cellulose-based crops.
Food stamp benefit levels will be increased, and nutrition program rules will be updated, he said. A program that promotes fresh fruits and vegetables for children will be expanded nationwide with approximately $1 billion in dedicated funding.
Harkin explained that the bill includes a provision to increase competition in livestock markets by strengthening enforcement of the existing Packers and Stockyards Act.
The bill is expected to be taken up by the full Senate as early as next week.
Harkin said many amendments are likely to be presented and noted that he fully expects at least one of them to be passed by the full Senate. He was referring to an amendment announced by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that would cap farm program payments at $250,000.
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