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2007-2008 Nebraska Farmers Union Policy
Nebraska Farmers Union (NEFU)
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 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.
Family Farm Definition
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 about 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.
NEFU 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
NEFU 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.
NEFU is opposed to the
factory-style, highly concentrated production of livestock and poultry.
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 that 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 NEFU 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.
NEFU strongly reaffirms its support for rural planning and zoning. We oppose any attempts 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 that reflects future projected income
losses when they lose property through eminent domain proceedings.
We urge the Nebraska Legislature
limit natural resources districts’ (NRDs’) 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.
Public Power Eminent Domain
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. NEFU
has opposed such mergers as
Cargill-Continental, Smithfield-Tyson, Monsanto-Novartis and Cenex Harvest
States-Farmland, and also opposes the mergers of regional cooperatives. 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 NEFU 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.
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 such as refundable tax credits directed at biofuels
producers. An excess profits tax could
be used for this purpose.
NEFU urges the Nebraska Legislature
to pass a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), also known as a Renewable Energy
Standard (RES), of 10% by the year 2015, which would require Nebraska utilities
to source a minimum of 10% of their energy requirements from renewable
Nebraska-generated energy. We urge Congress to pass an equivalent RPS at the
national level.
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 take steps to provide
an equitable crude entitlements program for cooperatives and independent
refineries.
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
Rural Electric Association (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 areas 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 power marketing associations (PMAs) 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
NEFU has been a steadfast supporter
of ethanol fuel production since its inception in the early 1970s. Ethanol provides a sustainable fuel source
for America. Now, more than ever, it is
important to rapidly develop ethanol fuels in order to reduce our dependency on
unstable and/or unfriendly foreign nations for fuel and to hold down fuel
prices. Surpluses of wheat, corn and
other feed grains should be used 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.
NEFU 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 oilseed crops for lubricating oils and fuels. We further urge more state and federal efforts to encourage the
development and wide spread use of the oxygenated-fuel additive ETBE and
recommend that all tax credits and incentives now available for ethanol
production be extended to 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 United States.
NEFU supports enactment of
legislation to require minimum standards for the use of oxygenated fuels in
gasoline made available for sale in Nebraska.
NEFU opposes any increase of
commodity check-offs in excess of the one-quarter cent per bushel rates used to
fund building of new ethanol plants.
NEFU 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 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 encourage cooperatives to become actively involved in ethanol and biodiesel production.
NEFU supports an effective state and federal level promotion and development strategy for biodiesel, similar to Nebraska’s efforts to develop and promote ethanol.
We oppose importation into and sales within the United States 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 (MTBE) as a fuel additive, and we oppose any liability protection for those who produce MTBE and sell it.
Alternative Bio-Fuel Sources
NEFU supports an effective state and federal level promotion, development, and policy strategy for cellulosic crops to produce ethanol.
Public Power
We support the state public power system and oppose any effort to privatize it. NEFU 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 in 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
concert with other nations, to bring the operations of multi-national
corporations under surveillance and control in the general public interest.
NEFU calls for the auto industry to
help solve our energy problems by making cars and trucks that get better gas
mileage. The technology is available to make us energy independent.
NEFU supports the development of wind energy. In order to maximize both environmental benefits and rural economic development, we urge the state public power system 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. NEFU supports fair compensation to farmers and/or landowners as C-BED is used to generate wind energy in Nebraska. NEFU supports the assesertive and positive use of LB629 by Nebraska’s electric utilities as intended by the Nebraska Legislature. NEFU supports setting clear, fair, and transparent standards for initial wind development lease options and development rights in Nebraska. In order to protect the interests of landowners, the terms should limit the length of years that deal with initial wind development lease options and development rights to a maximum of five years.
NEFU supports efforts to modify the Nebraska Power Review Board’s criteria to approve new electrical generation that allows and encourages more renewable energy development, including wind energy.
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 entities 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
alternatives to natural gas.
We support legislation to provide
for mandatory allocation of natural gas to fertilizer plants. No nitrogen manufacturing plant should be
forced to operate at less than full capacity due to inadequate supplies of natural
gas as a feedstock.
Commitment
NEFU supports a less partisan selection process and greater accountability for the members of the Environmental Quality Council and the executive director of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (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
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 -- 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.
NEFU supports the removal of toxic
and hazardous waste from commercial fertilizers.
Livestock Waste Management
NEFU supports fair, appropriate and
reasonable enforcement of NDEQ 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 NDEQ to deny any permits to operations that have been labeled as bad
actors in other states.
Large-scale operations should be
required to have financial assurance (such as bonding), 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 NDEQ 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 confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs); and
3. Regulation of large CAFOs as industrial
sites, instead of as farms.
Global Warming
NEFU recognizes climate change and
global warming as clear dangers to our planet.
NEFU believes that agriculture can be the most powerful resource for
mitigating climate change and global warming, both through carbon sequestration
and through renewable energy production of all types that is carbon
neutral. NEFU supports international
global warming treaties that are binding on all countries, developed and
developing, and that incent agricultural based solutions to this serious global
challenge.
Carbon Sequestration
Evidence exists that increasing
levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide pose a threat to agriculture’s ability to
produce food. Proven ag practices are
known to trap (sequester) carbon dioxide in the soil, increasing soil organic
matter and so making the soil more resilient to erratic and severe weather,
particularly wind and water erosion.
NEFU sponsors a carbon credit program to compensate farmers and ranchers
for and encourage them to sequester carbon in the soil. Any carbon credit
payments by polluters should be paid to farmers and ranchers via the Chicago
Climate Exchange (CCX). NEFU supports a
national mandatory cap and trade system to reduce non-farm greenhouse gas
emissions.
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 passage of a
container deposit and recycling law to promote and fund recycling programs.
Parity
NEFU’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. NEFU 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.
NEFU calls for a return to the Carl
Wilkin parity concept used in the Franklin Roosevelt-Truman administration to
maintain 100% of parity, plus or minus a 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.
NEFU calls for an ongoing National
Farmers Union campaign to press Congress to establish Commodity Credit
Corporation (CCC) 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 widespread 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, other rural
businesses and the balance of payments is the establishment of full parity for
the American farmer, to put him on a level playing field with the rest of the
U.S. 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 that will raise prices of agricultural products to equitable levels.
Recommendations
We support a supply-management
program that 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 “de-coupling,”
triple-base option, revenue assurance, block grants and other farm program
proposals which would phase-out farm programs in five 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 want as long as they comply 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 NEFU believes that research for new uses of these crops such as
sweeteners, alcohol for fuel and biodegradable 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 2002 farm bill is also inadequate. We call for a rewrite of current farm policy. The 2007 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 (COOL), ban packer ownership of livestock, and include a permanent disaster provision and a strong competition title.
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).
NEFU 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 Loans
CCC loans should meet the following requirements:
1. 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;
2. 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;
3. A revolving fund for CCC loans
should 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;
4. 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;
5. There should be no difference in
the CCC loan rates between states;
6. Posted county prices should be
based on local terminal markets rather than Gulf prices; and
7. Any legislation which gives the
Secretary of Agriculture the discretion to lower the CCC loan rates established
by Congress should be repealed.
Grain Reserve Program
NEFU supports the creation of a
Strategic National Food Reserve for national food security purposes and a
strategic national energy reserve for renewable energy production. The policy and objectives will be to ensure
a reliable source of food and renewable energy to the U.S. consumer and a
reasonable income to the U.S. 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 should not be less than the average
commercial rate per year, paid in advance;
4.
The upper limits should be no more than two years production for any
producer;
5.
Farmers will have the option of one, two or three years participation in
this reserve;
6.
The CCC 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 the County Committee will have the final say in dealing with grain
shrinkage;
11.
The amount of grain in the FOR should include a minimum of 500 million
bushels of wheat and 1 billion bushels of feed grains. There should not be an upper limit; and
12.
Anytime the FOR does not reach the minimum level, the CCC will purchase
grain in order to maintain reserve levels.
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:
1. Within such an overall limit,
varying target prices for such farmers’ first block of production, then lower
target prices for successive blocks of production; and
2. Limiting the total amount
received from USDA payments to $175,000 annually.
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 50 years ago. The Gross National Product has increased 40 to 50 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 wetlands, create areas
suitable for tree planting, control flooding and improve water quality and
wildlife habitat.
Conservation Security Program (CSP)
NEFU rejects current federal funding
practices for the CSP because CSP funding is often applied in an arbitrary
manner at the local level. We support full funding for CSP and we support
admitting producers to CSP who have been passed over in past years. We support
a continuous national sign-up for CSP.
We also support sufficient training for and supervision over personnel
administering the CSP.
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
CRP 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. NEFU supports increased funding
for CRP and expansion of the number of marginal acres eligible to be protected.
NEFU urges examination of the
process now used to enter land into CRP.
NEFU opposes the early withdrawal of
CRP land by USDA to increase commodity production, since CRP is not designed to
be a supply-management program and since doing so would undermine the
protection of fragile land and wildlife habitat.
Normal Cropland Acreage
To maintain flexibility in cropping
systems, we favor reinstating the Normal Crop Acreage (NCA), 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 that says
that NCA 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
NEFU 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-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 more than $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 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
should increase the federal minimum standards of fluid whole milk to 8.7% milk
solids non-fat; 10% for low fat; and 9% 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 ensure that all milk marketed as fluid milk meet or
exceed these standards;
3.
Since
products containing imported casein, such as non-dairy creamers 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;
and
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 should 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 operations. Some dairymen, as a result of negative cash flow, brought about not because of inefficiency 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 operations.
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.
NEFU supports inclusion of a
Livestock Title in all farm bills.
NEFU
favors legislation that 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 meatpacking industry, such
as farmers pooling livestock and different types of farmer networking to
increase the value of livestock prices for the producer.
NEFU 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 businesses 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:
1.
USDA should 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.
2.
Extend consumer protection laws, that prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or
practices, to farmers in their marketing relationships with agricultural
companies.
3.
Regulate 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 seven days prior to slaughter.
4.
Farmers’ should be able 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.
5.
Key information in an agricultural production contract should be fully
disclosed in plain English on the cover page prior to farmers signing the
contract.
Support and Recommendations
NEFU
has consistently attempted to adhere to the philosophy and practice so ably set
forth in the Preamble to the Constitution and in 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 World Trade
Organization (WTO), we submit the following:
We
support the concept that we the people are now living in a progressively
smaller, more 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, we believe the
rules, regulation and control of any trade process must be flexible, tolerant
and arbitratable. It must be kept in
mind that any trade is only as good as the satisfaction derived by all parties
involved.
International Marketing Agreements
NEFU disapproves of the WTO and the
international trading organizations that 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 WTO 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.
NEFU 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 United
States 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. NEFU is opposed to any trade agreement that
allows export dumping. NEFU 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 United States 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 to 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 United States will be jeopardized
by trade negotiation compromises. NEFU 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 United States shall be plainly marked as imported, even when commingled
with American-produced produce. NEFU calls for immediate implementation of
mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for agricultural products as
directed in the 2002 farm bill.
NEFU 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.
NEFU 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% of parity.
We support the grain reserve program
for consistent grain availability for export with these exports priced at 100%
of parity.
We oppose grain embargoes due to the
unfair burden placed on the American farmer.
We support continued funding of the
PL480 program and implementation of the Export Credit Program. We are concerned about the effect of U.S.
Cargo Preference on the prices of our farm commodities by the time they reach
their destination.
We oppose Export Payment-in-Kind
(PIK) and Cargo Preference.
We oppose using the elimination of
farm subsidies as a bargaining tool with foreign countries.
NEFU 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.
NEFU 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; this would stimulate
investment and employment in the sugar-refining industry. It would help the United States achieve
self-sufficient sugar production, reduce our nation’s balance-of-trade deficit,
better protect American producers and 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.
NEFU 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.
Farm Services Agency (FSA)
NEFU opposes any effort to further
consolidate FSA offices, which would force farmers to travel unnecessarily long
distances to handle their FSA business.
Due to complexities caused by the
current farm program and the corresponding workload on staff at the local
level, we support funding to maintain adequate staffing at the local FSA
offices.
Producers shall have the option to
purchase federal crop insurance through county FSA offices.
Farmers should be paid interest on
payments due to them if those payments are 30 days or more past due.
Farmer-Elected Committees
We strongly support the integrity
and independence of FSA Farmer-Elected Committees and support their continuance
in every agricultural county. To allow
for the appointment of local committee members or to encourage merging of
committees over a regional basis will decrease democratic participation in this
grassroots system and will increase the power and influence of career USDA
bureaucrats.
We oppose efforts that would expand
the county FSA committee from three to five by allowing the appointment of two
non-producers to the committee by the Secretary of Agriculture. This would drastically diminish the concept
of producer control and management of the producers’ farm programs.
NEFU urges the USDA to change the
regulations to allow qualified persons to serve on county committees without
discrimination toward those who serve in general farm organizations at the
national level.
We support increasing both funding
and involvement of Farmer-Elected Committeemen in carrying out the farm
program.
Appointees to the state FSA
committee which administer farm programs should have previous county FSA
experience and be bona fide farmers.
We oppose program-restricting
consolidations of USDA agencies within counties or otherwise that would impede
their ability to fulfill their congressional mandate.
We ask that agriculture committees
of the United States maintain vigilance over USDA activities to assure that
there is no decrease in the services provided.
We believe that county FSA offices should have authority to set
conservation cost-share rates.
Emergency Feed Programs
We support a program to make feed
grain and hay available at federally subsidized prices to livestock producers
stricken by drought and other natural disasters, to enable them to preserve
basic herds of breeding livestock, with safeguards to assure that program
benefits go to bona fide family farmers and ranchers.