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.
A White House veto threat is strengthening the hand of those who would lower payment limits in federal farm programs.
As urban millionaire landowners continued to cash fat checks from federal commodity programs, calls for reform were left largely unanswered last year as the House of Representatives and Senate hammered out their versions of the new Farm Bill. Some modest changes were included in both versions of the bill, but organizations pushing for reform were generally disappointed.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican who often complains that 10 percent of the nation's landowners receive a whopping 73 percent of all federal farm-program benefits, has led the effort to direct more funding to small and medium-sized farm operations. Grassley has largely been thwarted in his efforts. Joining with Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., he fought unsuccessfully last year to place hard limits on federal farm-program payments in the Senate's version of the new Farm Bill. Grassley and Dorgan wanted to cap payments at $250,000 per year, but their amendment failed to reach the 60-vote threshold it needed to pass.
This week, Grassley vowed to keep the pressure on and push for payment limits, and he has a powerful ally in his corner: President George W. Bush.
As new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Shafer was being sworn-in Wednesday, President Bush used the occasion as an opportunity to reaffirm his veto threat of the Farm Bill. "It's critical for farmers and consumers to have a good Farm Bill in place, so Ed's going to work with members of both parties on a bill that spends people's money wisely, doesn't raise taxes, reforms and tightens subsidy payments — a Farm Bill that will benefit the entire economy," said Bush. "I'm confident we can come together to get a good Farm Bill, but if Congress sends me legislation that raises taxes or does not make needed reforms, I'm going to veto it."
In a conference call with agriculture reporters this week, Grassley said there is hope for some compromises as the House and Senate conference committee takes a fresh look at the bill. "With the alliance of the White House and the U.S. Department of Agriculture wanting tighter limits," said Grassley, "It gives me hope that we'll be able to tighten them up to some extent. But I'm here to tell you it's still an uphill battle."
It may be more than an uphill battle for Grassley — it may be a lost cause. The Senate's Farm Bill conference committee members were named this week, and most of those senators voted against the Grassley-Dorgan payment limits amendment in December.
Conference committee members who voted in favor of it include Grassley, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
Committee members who voted against the amendment include Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.
The House of Representatives has not yet named its Farm Bill conference committee members.
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