10/20/05 Senate committee okays ag cuts

10/20/05 Senate committee okays ag cuts

Farm and Ranch October 20, 2005 By a vote of 11 to 9, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee yesterday approved cutting agriculture program spending by three billion dollars over the next five years as part of a deficit reduction package. It was not a task welcomed by the committee and its Chairman, Republican Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss: "Again I reiterate that under the circumstances of the current deficit I do not relish making these cuts. But I believe that we owe it to the American people to trim mandatory spending." Democratic Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota who opposed cutting ag spending, argued the process wasn't really about deficit reduction but paying for extending 70-billion dollars in tax cuts. Conrad: "To cut support for producers at an extraordinarily difficult time, one could argue at the worst possible time, so that we can shoe horn in more tax cuts, that's what this vote is about." The legislation approved by the committee reduces commodity program payments by 2.5% for the 2006 through 2010 crop years, cuts spending on conservation programs like CSP and EQIP and reduces the acreage cap for CRP. The Milk Income Loss Contract program is extended through September of 2007 with reductions in payments and there is a forfeiture penalty on nonrecourse sugar loans. There are no cuts for food stamps. The full Senate must still vote on ag spending and the House Ag Committee, which may be asked to cut more than three-billion dollars, has until October 28th to finalize its package. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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