Southern peanut farmers concerned over progress of farm bill

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Posted 9:39AM on Sunday, March 31, 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Even if Congress acts quickly, some peanut farmers are afraid it will be weeks, perhaps months, before they see the new federal rules governing their crop - time they say they don't have. Congressional negotiators have indicated they're making progress on a new 10-year farm bill, but when they finish has become almost as important to peanut farmers as what the bill will say. Some intend to start planting as early as this week. Even if lawmakers pass the measure immediately after returning from recess next month and President Bush signs it into law, the Department of Agriculture must go to work crafting regulations for a new peanut program. It's a near certainty the next farm bill will eliminate the quota system that has propped up some peanut prices for decades, replacing it with lower, more market-friendly guarantees for all farmers. That part, including the price floor amounts, will be part of the farm bill. But the details of the new federal regulations won't be available anytime soon, USDA officials say. ``We're talking about some fairly dramatic changes to the current program,'' said Dale Moore, chief of staff for Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. ``That's going to require a lot of work. Weeks certainly would be at the shortest end of the process.'' When the farm bill is signed into law, there will likely be a 30-day period for public comment, Moore said. After that, the department will start crafting some of the rules, including a schedule for government payments to farmers. Georgia peanut farmer Wilbur Gamble, who has vocally opposed the elimination of the quota system, says long delays will put a strain on this year's harvest. Many farmers, already having trouble getting loans from banks, will conservatively plant peanuts because there is so much uncertainty over the rules, Gamble said. ``Peanuts are seeing a drastic change, not a minor change,'' Gamble said. ``It's going to be a nightmare.'' Gamble wants Congress to delay the new system a year, but that doesn't appear likely. One provision of the new farm bill grants a higher price floor for peanuts planted on land where the crop has been harvested four consecutive years. The grower would have the right to instead apply that price to peanuts on a different farm, but that decision must be made within 180 days after the farm bill becomes law. Gamble contends it's unreasonable for farmers to make that decision if they haven't first seen the regulations. But Bob Redding, lobbyist for the Georgia Peanut Commission, called it a landlord-tenant issue that would exist regardless of whether the regulations are finished. Two Georgia lawmakers, Democratic Sen. Zell Miller and Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss, have called Veneman recently to encourage her department to prepare the rules even before Congress passes the bill. There have been a few preparations, Moore said, but federal rules of procedure and an exhausting workload for USDA staffers have made it impossible to do much now. After talking with Veneman, Miller said he was confident the staffers were working their hardest and that a delay of a few weeks won't sink this year's peanut harvest. ``I just wanted to make her aware that we needed to be able to hit the ground running as best we could,'' Miller said. ``These are important details, but the farmers can wait a little longer on that. What they need to know right now is what's in that farm bill.'' Congressional leaders expect the bill will get final passage next month, but some staffers close to the negotiations say the money for peanuts will almost certainly be less than Chambliss and others are seeking. According to the sources, some $4.3 billion in requests for peanuts, dairy and sugar will have to compete for $2.6 billion. It's unclear how that will affect the price floor for peanuts or the buyout amount for current quota holders.