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2005-2006 Nebraska Farmers Union Policy
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Farmers Union of Nebraska strongly
believes in the values of family farm, owner-operated agriculture. We believe strong rural communities, the
protection of our soil and water resources, and healthy democratic government
are linked to the economic well-being of family farmers here and around the
world. We believe in more cooperation
between farmers both here in America and around the world.
A strong rural economic base linked
to parity prices is a key building block for a strong local, state, national and
world economy. We remain wholly
dedicated to the strengthening of the family farm system and resolutely opposed
to an industrialized type of corporate farming or to domination of farm
ownership and operation by off-farm or alien interests.
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A “family farm” is ideally one which
is owned and operated by a farmer and his or her family, with the family
providing labor needed for the farming operation, assuming the economic risk,
making most of the management decisions, reaping the gains or losses from the
operation, and depending primarily on farming for a living.
Rural Economic Development
NEFU is vitally concerned over the
continued deterioration of our rural communities. Land and the crops and livestock raised on it furnish the rural
community with its economic base. Any
true rural development must recognize this fact.
Farmers Union supports the only
rural development policy which will work:
One which focuses on vitalizing the family farm (not large industrial
farms) through the use of government programs, fair crop prices, credit, taxes,
conservation, and good stewardship.
We ask the state of Nebraska to
emphasize cooperative development and accelerate the growth of our rural
economy, making cooperative development a priority in using our financial and
technical resources. We ask the state
of Nebraska to model North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado and other more progressive
states in their promotion of rural economic cooperative development. We urge an emphasis on the development of
wind energy as a key component of rural economic development.
NEFU opposes the trend in state government of targeting rural programs for elimination or reductions in funding when state budget cuts are required.
Land Ownership
Farmers Union of Nebraska stands
opposed to non-family owned corporations engaging in farming. They have access to capital from other
industries that frequently enjoy favored treatment, as well as subsidies, the
ability to use tax advantages, and the ability to interfere with and manipulate
markets for farm products to the detriment of the family farmers.
Corporate farming should be
restricted to family farm corporations. Our state must be kept abreast of the
number of corporate farms in Nebraska including partnerships that participate
in agricultural production.
We pledge support and work with our
public officials for the enforcement and implementation of the Nebraska
Constitution as amended, which prohibits farm purchases by non-family farm
corporations. We ask for vigorous enforcement of the Initiative 300 law by all
pertinent state officials.
We support Article 12, Section 8, of
the Nebraska Constitution (Initiative 300). We oppose any amendments to weaken
Initiative 300.
We ask for enforcement of the
prohibition of using Limited Liability Companies as a means to circumvent
restrictions in I-300, otherwise known as Article 12, Section 8 of the Nebraska
Constitution.
Nebraska Farmers Union is opposed to
the factory-style, highly concentrated production of livestock and poultry.
Nebraska Farmers Union opposes tax
policies that artificially drive up ag land values such as Section 1031 tax
exchanges of the Internal Revenue Code.
Rural Zoning
We urge the state of Nebraska to
maintain a process of land planning and develop a balanced land-use plan under
local control which takes into account the needs of agriculture, housing, and
essential economic activities. The plan
should preserve the more productive land for agricultural purposes and marginal
land should be used for urban development, highways, cities, etc. The County Planning Commission should be a
majority of rural citizens to assure proper use of agricultural land. We urge Farmers Union members to take an
active part in rural zoning and land-use planning. We recommend that the procedures used by a city be made clear
prior to adoption.
The Nebraska Farmers Union strongly
reaffirms its support for rural planning and zoning. We oppose any attempt by
the state of Nebraska and/or large agribusiness to weaken the ability of
counties to enact and enforce rural zoning. NEFU further calls on all county
commissioners and supervisors to resist any performance zoning and all other
attempts to weaken or eliminate the power, authority, enforcement and existence
of county zoning authorities.
Eminent Domain
More restrictions should be placed
on the granting of eminent domain with provisions that provide farmers or other
landowners with adequate compensation which reflects future projected income
losses when they lose property through eminent domain proceedings.
We urge the Nebraska Legislature to
limit Natural Resource Districts’ use of eminent domain authority when
acquiring land for single-purpose recreation projects. We prefer a willing buyer-willing seller
relationship to meet recreation needs.
We feel that land acquired by
Natural Resource Districts, for single or multi-purpose recreation projects,
should not be used for agricultural production.
We oppose the use of eminent domain
for the purpose of acquiring property for private development and benefit.
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Support and Recommendations
We are opposed to any attempt to amend and weaken the Capper-Volstead Act, which gives farmers the right to join together in cooperatives to market their products or to purchase supplies. Farmer-owned cooperatives need to be strengthened. All farmers should help head off attacks on the Capper-Volstead Act and provisions in the anti-trust laws that protect and enhance cooperatives. Nebraska Farmers Union has opposed such mergers as Cargill-Continental, Smithfield-Tyson and Monsanto-Novartis, also opposes the mergers of cooperatives such as that proposed by Cenex Harvest States Harvest States and Farmland. We believe cooperatives should not engage in agricultural production activities in direct competition with agricultural producers.
Cooperatives should become more active
in grain exportation. This would lessen
the stranglehold the large, multi-national grain companies have on America’s
farmers and our overseas customers.
We support and encourage efforts by
large cooperatives to pool sales of wheat and other grains, cotton, soybeans,
dry edible beans, and other commodities and urge producer cooperatives to
participate in such programs where available.
We believe in maintaining the co-op
principle of one vote per member.
Cenex Harvest States
We commend Cenex Harvest States for its efforts in expanding its trade areas
to Nebraska and providing more services to affiliated cooperatives. It is essential that these cooperatives
review their goals from time to time, promote unity among Farmers Union and
cooperatives, encourage young farmers to be involved in co-ops, and promote the
use of cooperative educational material in our schools at all levels.
We also commend and encourage Cenex
Harvest States for its efforts in
providing ethanol to its patrons.
We recognize the progress Cenex
Harvest States has made in serving
farmers and ranchers in Nebraska. NEFU
is proud of Farmers Union’s early support in the development of Cenex Harvest
States, a regional cooperative that continues to provide financial support to
our organization. We urge all farmers
and ranchers to recommend that their local cooperatives purchase supplies from
Cenex Harvest States .
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Support and Recommendations
Our Congress should adopt a
comprehensive national energy policy that aggressively incents and grows
alternative energy sources. This should
include incentives for farmer and community owned ethanol, biodiesel, and wind
energy. One important way is through
government incentives, i.e. tax credits.
An excess profits tax could be used for this purpose.
Crude Oil Entitlements
A new crude oil entitlement program
is necessary to resolve the serious disparity in price between foreign and
domestic crude. Cooperatives and
independent refineries are almost solely dependent on foreign crude for their
refineries and this disparity provides a serious competitive pricing advantage
for the major oil companies to the detriment of supply cooperatives. We urge the government to take steps to
provide an equitable crude entitlements program for cooperatives and
independent refineries.
Rural Electrification and Telephone
We support the continuation of the
Rural Utilities Association as the primary source of financing for the rural
electric and telephone systems. We
continue to support adequate funding for special low-cost loans for those
systems which operate in very difficult economic circumstances, including
serving sparsely settled rural areas.
We support the efforts of the rural public power districts and rural
electric cooperatives in their efforts to secure permanent capital for the REA
Revolving Fund.
We oppose any efforts to weaken the
ability of REA to assist the nation’s rural electric systems in their mission
to provide reliable, adequate electric service at affordable rates to their
consumers.
We oppose any legislation which
would result in the loss of electric service area around the perimeters of
municipalities by the Rural Public Power Districts and any legislation aimed at
reducing payments to Rural Public Power Districts which may be made as
compensation for the loss of such customers through the course of territorial
annexation.
We oppose the sale of
government-owned PMA’s (power marketing associations) to the private sector.
We oppose any merger in the field of
energy that does not benefit all consumers, especially small consumers.
Ethanol and Alternative Fuels and
Lubricants
Farmers Union of Nebraska has been a
steadfast supporter of ethanol fuel production since its inception in the early
1970’s. Ethanol as a fuel, fuel
extender, or octane booster, will provide an alternative fuel source for
America. Now more than ever before it
is important to rapidly develop ethanol fuels in order to reduce our dependency
on foreign nations for fuel and to hold down fuel prices. Surpluses of wheat, corn, and other feed
grains should be utilized for the production of ethanol.
We favor the retention of the 5.4 cent exemption at the federal level. The government should assist in the development of domestic ethanol fuels by permanently extending the tax exemption of ethanol blended fuel, creating other tax incentives for fuel ethanol producers, guaranteeing loans for fuel ethanol plants, and requiring that all gasoline be a domestic blend.
Farmers Union shall provide any
assistance possible to help cooperatives and others who desire to build an
ethanol plant.
We urge expanded research and
development of the use of ethanol products and by-products as well as the use
of oil-seed crops for lubricating oils and fuels. We further urge more state and federal efforts to encourage the
development and wide spread use of ETBE and recommend that all tax credits and
incentives now available for ethanol production be extended to include ETBE.
We oppose any use of ethanol funds,
except for ethanol production or promotion.
We support the production of
automobiles using an 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline blend. NEFU urges the mandated use of at least a
10% blend of ethanol in the U.S.
Nebraska Farmers Union supports
enactment of legislation to require minimum standards for the use of oxygenated
fuels in gasoline made available for sale in Nebraska.
Nebraska Farmers Union opposes any
increase of commodity checkoffs in excess of the one-quarter cent per bushel
rates used to fund building of new ethanol plants.
Nebraska Farmers Union supports efforts
to fairly fund new ethanol plants after July 1, 2004.
Nebraska Farmers Union encourages farmers
to use ethanol in all gasoline vehicles and in all gas powered equipment. We encourage the use of ethanol in local,
county and state government vehicles.
We urge all farmers co-ops to offer
ethanol and biodiesel for sale and encourage them to pass state and federal
subsidies on to consumers. NEFU
supports policy that encourages farmer owned cooperatives to actively pursue
ethanol and biodiesel use and manufacturing development. We urge the Nebraska Ethanol Board and the
state of Nebraska to encourage cooperatives to become actively involved in
ethanol and biodiesel production.
Nebraska Farmers Union supports an effective state level promotion and development strategy for soy diesel, similar to Nebraska’s efforts to develop and promote ethanol.
We oppose importation into the U.S. and sales within the U.S. of foreign ethanol and alternative fuels and lubricants, as long as such products can unfairly compete with domestic products.
In order to protect our underground water supply, NEFU supports the complete phase out of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MBTE) as a fuel additive and we oppose any liability protection for those who produce MBTE and sell it.
Public Power
We support the Nebraska Public Power system and oppose any effort to privatize that system. Nebraska Farmers Union opposes federally-mandated electric deregulation as rural consumers will be required to bear the cost of large consumers, who under deregulation could shop across the country for the cheapest power, and leave electric grids at any time without notice.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
We
support the program of storing crude oil to provide an opportunity to offset
regional and national oil supply shortages.
We urge release of these reserves to cooperatives and other independent
domestic refineries at equitable prices at the early stages of any supply
disruption in order to minimize economic damage caused by disruption driven
price increases. We support creation of
strategic reserves in other fuel sources, including ethanol.
Energy Management and
Conservation
We urge consumer-owned utilities to
develop, demonstrate, and increase the economic feasibility of the use of
renewable and other alternative energy systems, including wind energy.
We must halt the leasing of public
energy resources to the same private corporations who already monopolize our
energy supplies. Public resources
should, to the greatest extent possible, be publicly developed on a
not-for-profit basis. First preference
should be given to publicly and cooperatively-owned utilities. Second preference should go to private
independent companies who do engage in competitive practices. Consumers need to be mindful of the public
service organizations they own.
Beautiful buildings, high salaries, and lucrative expense accounts
generally translate into excessive cost to the consumer. The United States should take steps, in
consort with other nations, to bring the operations of multi-national
corporations under surveillance and control in the general public interest.
NEFU calls for the car industry to
help solve our energy problems by making cars that get better gas mileage. The
technology is available to make us energy independent.
Nebraska Farmers Union supports the development of wind energy. In order to maximize both environmental benefits and rural economic development, we urge the Nebraska public power system to continue to support and expand their renewable portfolio for all power sold in Nebraska; we ask the Nebraska legislature to institute net-metering for small wind systems, and to create a public benefits fund to support a wind energy promotion and authority board. Nebraska Farmers Union supports fair compensation to farmers and/or landowners as community-based energy development (C-BED) is used to generate wind energy in Nebraska. NEFU supports state incentives that could be used in tandem with federal production tax credits to enable farmers, ranchers, non-profit organizations and community-based public entitites to construct their own wind turbines.
Natural Gas
Natural gas is used for a wide
number of critical applications in agriculture beyond energy, such as
fertilizer production. Because natural
gas is a finite resource, we urge industries and power companies to look at
other alternatives to natural gas.
We support legislation to provide
for mandatory allocation of natural gas to fertilizer plants. No nitrogen manufacturing plan should be
forced to operate at less than full capacity due to inadequate supplies of natural
gas as a feedstock.
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Commitment
NEFU supports a
less partisan selection process and greater accountability for the members of the
Environmental Quality Council and the Executive Director of NDEQ, to better
protect the natural resources and represent the interests of all the citizens
of Nebraska.
We urge both the government and
private groups to squarely face the pollution problems that plague our country.
While we are firmly committed to
preservation of the environment, we are opposed to arbitrary action taken by
the EPA to remove certain farm chemicals and pesticides from the market unless
their potential harm can be clearly demonstrated.
NEFU proposes that any and all
sanctions or controls (such as water special use areas) should apply to all
users--ag, industrial, commercial, and municipal in that area, and should not
be discriminatory.
We support more local input from
those affected on decisions regarding hazardous decontamination projects.
We oppose efforts to weaken clean
air standards through the rollback of emission standards for existing power
plants.
Disposable Wastes
We urge manufacturers to limit the
use of hazardous materials where other alternatives are available.
We oppose any nuclear or hazardous
waste site being placed over any underground water supply or near any flowing
stream.
Residents of areas in the vicinity
of proposed hazardous waste disposal sites may have reasonable and just cause
to oppose such activities. Therefore,
we encourage the Nebraska Environmental Control Council to give highest
priority to the licensing of hazardous waste areas in locations which are most
environmentally acceptable for that purpose, and to continue requirements
providing that hearings be held within the immediate vicinity of potential or
proposed waste disposal facilities to allow for reasonable public input.
Transportation of hazardous wastes
presents as much or more danger on rural roads as on the Interstate. Therefore, we oppose the present practice of
transportation of hazardous wastes on secondary highways and roads.
We encourage all agricultural
producers to practice recycling of pesticide containers, use of soluble
packaging and returnable and/or reusable containers.
Because of our concern over the
disposal of materials such as chemical containers, X-ray apparel, and low level
nuclear waste, we support research and development for a better way of treating
all waste materials that face us today, both hazardous and non-hazardous.
Nebraska Farmers Union supports the
removal of toxic and hazardous waste from commericial fertilizers.
Livestock Waste Management
Nebraska
Farmers Union supports fair, appropriate and reasonable enforcement of DEQ
regulations regarding Title 130. NEFU
supports fair, appropriate and reasonable regulations and penalties for air,
water and dust pollution. No construction
of any kind should be allowed until a workable construction permit has been
approved and issued. If any
construction is started without a permit, a permit will automatically be
denied. Inspections should be made on a
regular basis on existing facilities.
We urge that allowable limits be observed and/or established as to the
amount of nutrients on the land, and not allow more nitrogen and phosphorous
than a crop can use.
We support establishment of a
graduated scale of fees, regulations, and inspection to move the focus to large
operations and to exempt small producers from fees, inspections and most
regulations. We call on the DEQ to deny
any consideration for permits from those operations that are in violation of
Article 12 Section 8 of the Nebraska State Constitution and to also deny any
permits to operations which have been labeled as bad actors in other states.
Large scale operations should be
required to have financial assurance, including in the event of bankruptcy, to
cover closure and cleanup as a part of the permit process.
Dead animal disposal should be limited
to proper incineration, rendering or composting.
All existing large-scale operations
need to be brought into compliance with current regulations as they are
updated.
NEFU supports efforts to force DEQ
to hold community hearings for large livestock facilities proposed in unzoned
counties.
Title
130 should include:
1.
Identification
and purging of bad actors.
2.
Development
of regulations for site selection for CAFOs.
3.
Regulation
of large CAFOs as industrial sites, instead of as farms.
Global Warming
Nebraska Farmers Union is concerned
about the current U.S. position on the Global Warming Treaty. This treaty does
not treat U.S. farmers fairly, leaving them at an economic disadvantage to
third world producing countries by not binding them to the same standards U.S.
producers would be bound to. Therefore
Nebraska Farmers Union insists that any Global Warming Treaty be binding to all
countries involved.
Evidence exists that increasing
levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide pose a threat to agriculture’s ability to
produce food. Proven measures are known
that trap (sequester) carbon dioxide in the soil making it more resilient to
erratic and severe weather. Nebraska
Farmers Union supports a carbon credit program be adopted to compensate and
encourage farmers and ranchers to sequester carbon in the soil, and that any
carbon credit payments be administered and paid directly to farmers and
ranchers through the federal farm program.
Recycling
In order to reduce environmental damage, conserve natural resources, and prolong the useable life of landfills we support and encourage programs at the local, state, and national level that will collect and recycle both solid and fluid materials. We urge that all retail outlets serve as recycling collection points or work together to provide such points in the community. If necessary we support the passage of a container deposit and recycling law to promote and fund recycling programs.
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Parity
Farmers Union of Nebraska’s
commitment to the parity price formula, using the base years (1910-1914)
established by law as the standard to determine prices for agricultural
commodities, is unwavering. Farmers
Union believes that price supports for agricultural commodities should be
linked to the parity index so that the levels of support of farm prices will be
adjusted regularly to reflect changes in costs to farmers producing farm
commodities for family living.
We consider the parity system to be
as realistic, justifiable, and up-to-date as the Consumer Price Index upon
which almost 100 million Americans rely for adjustments in their economic
returns, wages, benefits, or retirement pay as costs rise.
Farmers Union calls for a return to
the Carl Wilkin parity concept used in
the Truman Administration to maintain 100% of parity plus or minus 5% tolerance
for all agricultural and mineral productions as the basis for stabilizing our
economy.
We favor an “Equity of Trade” form
of foreign trade whereby all trade between countries shall be conducted through
a computerized bartering system with prices based on our parity price for all
items of trade.
Our organization further commits
itself to working within the written framework of Farmers Union policy to
educate the public and policy makers on the parity concept.
Nebraska Farmers Union calls for an ongoing National Farmers Union
caampaign to press Congress to establish CCC loan rates based on parity prices
for storable farm commodities.
Need for Effective Farm Programs
Farmers of our nation are plagued by
a “cheap raw material and low farm price” policy. This policy results in the devaluation of our agricultural,
energy and water resources, without compensation to either the farmer or the
nation. This policy carries over into
an international policy of refusing to cooperate with other nations in
developing international commodity agreements.
As a result, the underdeveloped, as well as some developed nations, may
lose the incentive to produce agriculturally or develop their rural
economies. On a global basis, this
policy contributes to wide-spread unemployment, cheap labor, malnutrition, and
political instability in developing countries.
More than 32% of the gainfully
employed people in Nebraska and 22% in the nation depend on agriculture and
agriculture-related enterprises. Many of these enterprises are now depressed
economically because of lack of purchasing power by farmers.
Delayed interest payments and delayed
principal payments, although helpful, are not the answer to our problems. What farmers need now is a fair profit from
our products.
The answer to the problems of the
city, of joblessness, bank failures, agriculture lenders, and other rural
businesses and the balance of payments is the establishment of full parity for
the American farmer, to put him on an equal footing with the rest of the US
economy. This answer would no doubt positively serve many other areas of the
world as well. We therefore call upon
our government to expedite those provisions now in law, and to support new
provisions, which will raise prices of agricultural products to equitable
levels.
Recommendations
We support a supply management
program which would keep supplies of grain in balance with demand and stabilize
prices at a level that would provide producers a reasonable profit and
consumers a dependable food supply.
We are opposed to the “de-coupling,”
triple base option, revenue assurance, block grants, and other farm program
proposals which would phase-out farm programs in 5 to 10 years.
We believe the acreage reduction
program should be replaced with paid land diversion set aside programs which
would do away with inequitable historical acreage bases and allow producers to
plant any crop they wanted as long as they complied with the prescribed set
aside and paid land diversion requirements of these programs.
Since the production of crops for
feed, fiber, and food has increased greatly in the world in recent years, and
since the prospects of the United States increasing its exports of such crops
are bleak, the Farmers Union believes that research for new uses of these crops
such as sweeteners, alcohol for fuel, and bio-degradable plastics should be
expanded immediately.
We urge continuing support and
involvement in the Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.
The 1996 Freedom to Farm Act severely undermined the farm economy. The new Farm Bill is also inadequate. We call for a rewrite of current farm policy. The replacement farm bill, at a minimum, should sharply increase the CCC loan rates, institute a farmer-owned reserve, allow inventory management of excess stock, require mandatory price reporting and country-of-origin labeling, and put a moratorium on all ag-related mergers until the impact on the nation’s food system is analyzed.
We urge the elimination of the LDP policy option in farm policy, and urge its replacement with only a non-recourse loan.
In order for non-recourse loan rates to maintain the historical stabilizing effect on commodity prices, the short-selling of commodity futures contracts by hedge funds must be limited by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Nebraska Farmers Union opposes the
release of CCC loan balances of commodities still under loan, on a county
basis. This information is used by
grain buyers to determine free stocks of grain in the area.
We believe farm program payments should
be based on updated base and yield data.
Price Support Levels
Commodity
loan rates should be the primary component of the price support system. Loan rates should be non-recourse and at
least 90% of parity.
Extension of CCC Loans
Wheat, feed grain and oilseed
producers should have the option to extend their price support loans for an
additional year and receive storage payments for doing so.
Revolving Fund for CCC Loans
We urge that a revolving fund for
CCC loans be established, similar to those used by other federal lending
programs, thereby eliminating the problem of CCC loans being called budget
expenditures. Commodity loans from CCC
are fully collateralized, and borrowers pay interest on these loans. Such loans should not be considered as
budget expenditures.
Discrepancies in Loan Rates
Disparities between county loan
rates should immediately be corrected by either administrative or legislative
action by going back to the formula used to establish county loan rates in 1986
and prior years.
There should be no difference in the
CCC loan rates between states.
Posted county prices should be based
on local terminal markets rather than gulf prices.
Discretionary Secretary of Agriculture
Authority
We urge the repeal of any
legislation which gives the Secretary of Agriculture the discretion to lower
the CCC loan rates established by Congress.
Targeting Farm Program Benefits
Target price and CCC loan coverage
should be limited to a sufficient volume of production (bushels, pounds, bales)
to yield a fair labor and management income to each producing family. Such an approach would include:
within such an overall limit, vary target
prices for such farmers’ first block of production, then lower target prices
for successive blocks of production.
the total amount received from USDA
payments would be limited to $175,000 annually.
Grain Reserve Program
Farmers Union supports the creation
of a Strategic National Food Reserve for national food security purposes. The policy and objectives will be to ensure
a reliable source of food to the United States consumer and a reasonable income
to the United States producer. The Farmer-Owned Grain Reserve (FOR) should be
reinstated with the following provisions:
1.
Loan rates should be the same as the regular non-recourse CCC loan, and
not less than 100% of the cost of production.
2. The trigger release level should be not less than 110% of the
loan rate.
3.
Storage payments made to farmers shall not be less than the average
commercial rate per year, paid in advance.
4. The upper limits shall be no more than 2 years production for
any producer.
5. Farmers will have the option of 1, 2, or 3 years
participation in this reserve.
6.
The Commodity Credit Corporation should reinstate the program for producers
to build on-farm storage with low cost loans.
Farmers should have the option to extend their CCC grain reserve loans
for an additional year.
7.
Producers will be able to substitute grain in this reserve as long as
the substitution occurs within the county or farm operations.
8. Immediate entry into this reserve.
9. Reserve grain will not accrue interest.
10.
The full compaction factor will be used when measuring farm-stored grain
and county committee will have the final say in dealing with grain shrinkage.
11.
The amount of grain in the Farmer Owned Grain Reserve should include a
minimum of 500 million bushels of wheat
and 1 billion bushels of feed grains.
There should not be an upper limit.
12.
Anytime the Farmer Owned Reserve does not reach the minimum level the
CCC will purchase grain in order to maintain reserve levels.
Conservation Programs
NEFU supports the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) with a $30,000 cap over five years. The Agricultural Conservation Program (ACP) and the Great Plains Conservation Program should be reinstated and fully funded so that any producer who wants to do conservation work would be eligible to receive up to $5,000 in cost-sharing funds annually.
These programs are now being funded
by the dollar amounts that they were fifty years ago. The Gross National Product has increased forty to fifty times
since then.
We recommend that farmers be given
an option to construct new dams regardless of crop history or acreage size, and
that land designated as a dam site be eligible for ACR acres. We believe this will provide adequate financial incentives to
encourage farmers to increase wetland, create areas suitable for tree planting,
control flooding, improve water quality and wildlife habitat.
Conservation Reserve
Program
The CRP Program has helped protect
our more fragile soil and water resources and provides benefits to all
commodity producers because it prevents price-depressing overproduction on
fragile land. Nebraska Farmers Union
supports increased funding for the CRP Program and expansion of the number of
marginal acres eligible to be protected.
NEFU urges examination of the
process now used to enter land into the CRP.
Normal Cropland Acreage
To maintain flexibility in cropping
systems we favor reinstating the Normal Crop Acreage which would allow a
producer to plant any crop he chooses after complying with set-aside and land
diversion provisions for each crop grown on the farm. Normal cropland acreage should include legumes and tame grasses.
We also favor a provision which says
that Normal Crop Acreage cannot exceed 90% of the total cropland on the
farm. NCA base should not be lost due
to the under-planting of program crops.
Crop Insurance Planting Dates
The
final planting dates for Nebraska for wheat, grain sorghum, soybeans and corn
are currently inequitable in some areas, comparable in some cases to final
planting dates in Colorado (where elevation and climate are significantly
different) instead of final planting dates in Kansas (where elevation and
climate more nearly resemble ours). We
recommend that the final planting dates for crop insurance for Nebraska in
areas similar to adjoining states should coincide with FSA crop reporting
dates.
We
recommend extending the acreage reporting dates to be more reasonable.
Dairy Program
The Farmers Union of Nebraska
believes the Dairy Industry should be included in supply management
legislation.
We believe the Dairy Termination
Program was very successful in reducing CCC purchases and further believe a
supply management program must be instituted to keep production in the long run
in line with demand..
We believe the special milk program
should be reinstated in schools at 1980 levels. NEFU supports breakfast being offered in all K though 12 schools in Nebraska and nationally which
offer a school lunch program.
We support the 36-member Dairy
Promotion Board.
We also believe that our nation’s
dairymen should not lose needed revenue when over $846,000,000 of dairy
products other than casein and $2.2
billion of meat and meat products are imported annually.
We believe that:
1. CCC stored non-fat dry milk should be
offered to the bakeries of our country for domestic consumption at the world
market price.
2.
The FDA
should increase the federal minimum standards of fluid whole milk to 8.7
percent milk solids non-fat; 10 percent for low fat, and 9 percent for
skim solids non-fat; and further that
the FDA, in the best interest of both consumers and dairymen, should do
everything in its power to insure that all milk marketed as fluid milk meet or
exceed these standards.
3. Since products containing imported
casein, such as non-dairy dreamers and whipped toppings, displace domestic sales
of dairy products, we urge USDA and FDA inspection and regulation of casein,
milk derivatives and milk adhesives imported for food use. The federal government should establish
tariffs on the import of all dairy ingredients that displace domestically
produced milk usage including animal feed ingredients.
4. Imported milk protein concentrate and
ultra-filtered milk products have created a significant loophole in U.S. dairy
trade policy and have distorted the U.S. milk market. We support maintaining FDA’s current definition of milk to
prevent milk protein concentrate or ultra-filtered milk from being used for
standardized cheese.
Any new Farm Bill must include an inventory management program, and must set dairy price supports at levels that ensure producers receive a fair return on their labor and investment. Dairy price supports shall be adjusted annually to reflect inflation and long term productivity. Never again should a farm bill be passed that continually lowers the price of a commodity as the dairy section of the 1985 Farm Bill did to the milk producer. Dairymen were forced to milk more cows and work more hours to be able to cash flow their operation. Some dairymen, as a result of negative cash flow, brought about not because of inefficiency of their operation, but because of a lower value of milk support levels allowed in the 1985 Farm Bill, were forced to quit dairying and lose what had been a lifetime of investment in their operation.
Supply management should include
two-tier pricing with the domestic price at 100% of parity.
We support the creation of a
National Dairy Farmer Production and Reserve Board.
Nebraska Farmers Union supports
inclusion of a Livestock Title in all Farm Bills.
Farmers Union of Nebraska favors
legislation which would correct the present price inequity in the meat industry
which causes the unnecessarily large price spread between the producer and
consumers.
We urge the exploration of
alternatives to implement competitive pricing in the meat-packing industry,
such as farmers pooling livestock and different types of farmer networking to
increase the value of livestock prices for the producer.
Nebraska Farmers Union supports inclusion
of a Competition Title in all Farm Bills.
The concentration of ownership of the
nation's resources and wealth, particularly in the food industry, threatens
family agriculture, small business, and ultimately all consumers. Such concentration and agribusiness
consolidation reduces or eliminates competition for both farmers and consumers,
thereby destroying the proper functioning of our marketplace. Such concentration also interferes in the
democratic process of developing sound national farm, food, and trade policy.
Therefore, we support a broad range of
measures to restore marketplace competition, promote new competition, provide
fairness to farmer/agribusiness relationships, and reduce anti-competitive
mergers. Such measures should include the following.
We call upon USDA to help guard against
monopolistic unfair trade practices, especially in the food industry. We call for a merger moratorium on all large
agribusiness and retail food business mergers, until new effective anti-trust
and competition policies can be enacted.
We support extending consumer protection
law, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices, to farmers in their
marketing relationships with agricultural companies.
We support the regulation of captive
supplies of livestock through limiting the amounts of captive supplies and/or
requiring that such captive supply arrangements be put out to bid in an open
and public manner. We support
prohibiting packers and processors of red meats from owning or raising
livestock more than 7 days prior to slaughter.
We support farmer’s ability to choose
arbitration, mediation, or a civil trial in any and all disputes between
farmers and agribusinesses. We oppose
agricultural or marketing contracts that force farmers to give up rights to
mediation or civil trial.
We support disclosure of key information
in an agricultural production contract in plain English on the cover page prior
to farmers signing the contract.
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Support and recommendations
Nebraska Farmers Union has consistently
attempted to adhere to the philosophy and practice so ably set forth in the
Preamble to and the Constitution of the United States of America. We believe that governance is best
administered by the smallest legal unit of society capable of administering any
given condition. We further believe
that sovereignty is a necessary structure in the administration of governments.
Having set forth this standard for
the consideration of the posture, structure, and activity for the WTO, we
submit the following: We support the
concept that we the people are now living in a progressively smaller, confined
space in which the facilitation of trade can lead to a better life for all
people. Trade as a tool for the
accommodation of all people is desirable;
however, as a tool to exert power to control, it is destined to create
long range cataclysmic destruction.
With the above in mind, it is
evident that the deliberations of the representatives, who should be chosen for
their ability to represent all people within their sovereignty, must be open
and available to all people. The deliberations must be directed to the
enhancement of all people’s common desires of tranquility, peace and love. Recognizing that geography, culture and
personal interest and capabilities are divergent to an extreme; the rules, regulation and control of any
trade process must be flexible, tolerant and arbitratable. It must be borne in mind that any trade is
only as good as the satisfaction derived by all parties involved.
International Marketing
Agreements
Nebraska Farmers Union disapproves
of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the international trading
organizations which support the WTO’s march to globalization. We urge the Secretary
of Agriculture, the President and Congress to support a new trade negotiation
process outside the World Trade Organization to negotiate a system of shared
production cuts between the major agriculture exporting nations of the world in
time of burdensome supply. In addition,
they should negotiate a shared international food reserve which would stabilize
agricultural commodity stocks while protecting food security interests. Such agreements could raise and stabilize
world grain prices at fair levels, and reduce overall trade tensions.
Nebraska Farmers Union opposes Fast
Track negotiating authority or any similar authority for the President.
The United States shall negotiate
with other major grain-producing countries for the purpose of establishing a
world price on export grain. The U.S.
is the largest grain producing nation that exposes its grain producers to the
export market without price protection.
Farmers, co-ops, and farm organizations should be consulted in this
process.
If, for any reason, an international
grains agreement cannot be reached, we ask that grain exporting countries form
an agreement to provide minimum world trade pricing levels that provide a
return to producers to cover the costs of production and a reasonable profit.
We also oppose any trade agreement
that does not protect farmers from the negative impacts of import dumping. Nebraska Farmers Union is opposed to any
trade agreement that allows export dumping.
The Farmers Union of Nebraska feels that export subsidies only cheapen
the world price and will be met and lowered by the other grain producing
countries. We support trade and farm policies that raise the price levels of
U.S. farm commodities to profitable levels for farmers.
Any international trade agreement
should include international mechanisms to equalize the impact of relative
rates of currency.
We oppose any trade measure that in
any way restricts any country from being able to develop or implement internal
income supports for their ag producers.
We oppose the demolition of tariffs, quotas, and other mechanisms that
compensate for the differences in cost of production, standard of living and
relative value of currency between the various ag producing nations.
We support as a goal in any trade
agreement the concept of mutually beneficial trade for both producing and
consuming countries. We believe that
the food producers in all countries should work together to be involved in the
trade policy development in their countries. Such
agreements should promote a stable system of family farm food production both
in the US, and throughout the world, thereby also encouraging political
stability in many underdeveloped nations.
Any trade negotiations dealing with
the movement of agricultural commodities must take into consideration the
highest possible standards that ensure a safe and healthy product is delivered
to the consumer with a vigorous inspection system to safeguard these high
standards. We cannot accept any risk
that the safe and abundant food supply developed in the U.S. will be
jeopardized by trade negotiation compromises. Farmers Union of Nebraska
recommends that the quality standards of imported farm products be equal to
those set forth for our own farm products.
These standards shall be strictly enforced and the cost of inspection
and enforcement be paid by the exporting countries.
All farm products imported for sale
in the U.S. shall be plainly marked as imported, even when commingled with
American produced produce. Nebraska Farmers Union calls for immediate
implementation of mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for agricultural
products as directed in the 2002 Farm Bill.
Nebraska Farmers Union urges the
renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), using a
monetary exchange rate and a foreign subsidy program for the basis of the
agreement.
NEFU demands that any agricultural trade agreement address the obvious market-distorting influence of monopolistic and transnational private grain-trading companies. We also disapprove of the loss of any U.S. sovereignty, such as absorbing the U.S. cattle herd into a North American cattle herd.
Farmers Union of Nebraska is opposed
to any export controls on farm commodities which have the effect of driving
farm prices down at the marketplace with little effect, if any, on the price of
food at the grocery market. However, if
export controls are established, they should not be effective when the cash
prices of their commodities are less than 120 percent of parity.
We support the grain reserve program
for consistent grain availability for export with these exports priced at 100
percent of parity.
We oppose grain embargoes due to the
unfair burden placed on the American farmer.
We support continued funding of the
P.L. 480 program and implementation of the Export Credit Program. We are concerned at the effect of U.S. Cargo
Preference on the prices of our farm commodities by the time they reach their destination.
We oppose Export PIK and Cargo
Preference.
We oppose using the elimination of
farm subsidies as a bargaining tool with foreign countries.
Farmers Union of Nebraska supports
the extension of guaranteed export credits to the Commonwealth of Independent
States and requests that a significant portion of the guaranteed credit be
allocated to feed grains.
Farmers Union of Nebraska favors the
rigid application of the counter-cyclical formula.
Meat promotion funds shall not be
used to promote foreign meat. We insist
that imported meat be subject to the same sanitation, drug residue, and quality
standards as U.S. producers must meet.
USDA should reinstate the sugar
import quotas to limit foreign sugar imports which would stimulate investment
and employment in the sugar refining industry.
It would help the U.S. achieve self-sufficient sugar production, reduce
our nation’s balance of trade deficit, better protect American producers,
create a steadily growing market, and better prices for the U.S. corn crop.
We oppose U.S. agricultural loans or
grants or other assistance to countries whose subsidized agricultural products
are in direct competition with our own.
We support a mechanism to implement price
reporting on all agricultural commodity imports and exports.
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Farmers Union of Nebraska is
unalterably opposed to any further fragmentation of the USDA. Agriculture is the lifeblood of this country
with an essential need for the cabinet-level department in our nation’s government.
F.S.A.
Farmers Union of Nebraska opposes any effort to further consolidate FSA