Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Agri Council To Be Establish In District

Congressman Mike Ross, along with Congressman Marion Berry, are working to create an Agriculture Advisory Council in the Fourth Congressional District.

Ross, the newly elected representative from the district, is a member of the House Agricultural Committee with Berry, from the First Congressional District, where agriculture is also mainstay in the economy.

The two traveled the Fourth District holding town meetings on the creation of the advisory council. They were in the area Friday afternoon to discuss it locally.

Ross said he fought to get on the ag committee because it's one of the biggest parts of Arkansas' economy.

In eastern Arkansas, he said, it's mostly row crops, while other parts of the district deal in poultry, cattle and timber.

The current trend, he said, is losing row crop farms. This is a problem across the nation, not just in Arkansas.

"We don't need to lose any more farm families," he said. Because of this, the council is being created.

It's open to anyone involved in the agriculture business who wants to participate.

Ross said the idea is to get farmers and ranchers involved because they're out doing this every day and know what will and won't work.

The council will schedule meetings regularly so farmers and ranchers can voice their opinions, with the data sent to Ross in Washington, and help him do a better job on agri-related bills.

Ross is part of the "Blue Dog Coalition." This group is made up of about 33 conservative democrats in the House.

Berry, also a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, said the name comes from the fact the members will hang onto an issue though being choked till they're blue but not let go and follow the "Eastern, whacko stuff."

The Blue Dogs, he said, focus on fiscal responsibility and work to make sure the government doesn't waste money and put the U.S. deeper in debt.

Last year, Berry said, the agricultural committee set out to write a new ag bill for farmers and ranchers, but couldn't get any help from the Senate.

Now, he continued, it's not sure there will be another ag bill as was created in 1996. "We really need one by next year," he said. "When we write one, it will include conservation measures and help fro disasters."

The idea is to improve the way the government deals with disasters. "I feel we need to do an emergency supplemental bill now," Berry said, "to deal with the recent disaster."

Such bills are normally done in the spring during tornado and flood season.

However, nothing is being done at this time, he said, because the GOP wants to show how President George Bush's $1.6 trillion tax plan can be paid for and are fighting all emergency aid bills while the Democrats are fighting for them.

Berry said the nation is in good enough fiscal condition to deal with emergencies.

He changed gears, saying the nation's ability to be successful at producing enough food and fiber is being hindered by Environmental Protection Agency rules and regulations.

Ross said the EPA guidelines are too stringent and currently discourage oil and natural gas companies from doing any exploration, and this is leading to higher prices on everything.

Berry said it's costly to meet EPA regulations now, and several geographical reserves have been put off limits by the EPA because the agency doesn't want them used.

According to Berry, if a company buys a lease today, it takes four or five years to reach the point work can begin on the leased property because of EPA rules and regs, whereas it used to take only six months.

The problem is compounded further because oil and gas companies are investing their money elsewhere.

Another problem, Berry said, is the Reagan Administration shut down work on alternative energy solutions. "We were going good there for a time," he said, "but the program was never started back up, and energy costs are taking a big chunk of the economy."

If the nation would invest in technology to use crops as an alternative fuel source, Ross said, it would help bring fuel prices down and put a scare into oil producers.The question was posed on what could be done to help tree farmers. Some lost 15 and 20 years of investment in the ice storm and will only get a break if they can write the loss off their taxes.

The problem for the timber industry is timber prices are at $28 per ton in the U.S., while Canada is literally giving its timber away to create jobs.

South America virtually has slave labor paying people $1 per day to work in the log woods.

Ross agreed the Canadian lumber market is killing the timber American industry, and said the Arkansas delegation has signed a bill to address the issue and level the playing field.

Along with problems in the timber industry, he said, Mexico is producing chemicals banned in the U.S. years ago and shipping them across the border, while Viet Nam sends catfish to America for restaurants.

"We've got to level the playing field and give those in agriculture a chance," he said. At this time Congress is debating a label law on imported farm produce requiring it be shown where it's from.

"A lot of countries ignore it, and we've done a lousy job of enforcing our trade agreements. These items aren't processed under the same standards we have here."

Discussing the Christmas Day disaster, Ross said 24 of the 26 counties in his district were declared disaster areas.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is good, he said, and helps people cut through red tape.

However, FEMA isn't able to help farmers and ranchers much. This job falls to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the USDA, he said, hasn't learned how to cut through the red tape yet and this isn't allowing those in agriculture to get the help they need in times of disaster.

State Sen. Percy Malone said Arkansas has a good disaster relief program, and one is needed on the federal level. "There may be a way to put money there over the next several years."

According to Malone, there was $50-$100 million in damage from the ice storm and something needs to be done.

Ross said the U.S. Forest Service said it would need $37 million to clean up after the storm and replant the trees destroyed by it.

Ross and Berry were also questioned about the policy on subsidizing people for not growing food.

Berry said it's not actually a payment not to grow food, but part of the existing farm bill that will run out next year.

Those in the ag committee, he said, agree direct payments need to be done away with and base payments on what's actually being produced.

The direct payments, he said, were crammed in after the government shut down in 1995 after not being able to come up with a budget on time. None on the ag committee liked the idea even then.

Ross said market conditions and weather are two things farmers and ranchers have no control over and need help to keep from having to get out of the business.

"Other countries help their farmers," he said, "and we need to help those trying to feed America."

Without the direct payments, though, some farmers and ranchers would be out of business. It was asked how a new farm bill would help.

The intent, Berry said, is to create a safety net for those in the livestock, poultry, timber and other ag businesses. The people, he continued, now they need to be self sustaining in these things, but they need protection so the market can't be distorted.

There is a law on the books for competitive bidding in the cattle industry, Berry said, but it's up to the Justice Department to enforce it.

Some on the Hill, he continued, are under the impression the U.S. needs to consolidate in order to compete globally.

Part of the problems with commodities, he said, is the value of the dollar has an impact on what they're sold for.

The U.S. dollar has a big impact on Canadian lumber, and the national monetary policy has hurt the commodities market, he said. "The value of the dollar is too high, but Alan Greenspan and the money people just say there are inequities' and do nothing about it."

The value of the dollar and the interest rate, Berry said, go hand-in-hand, with agriculture bearing a tremendous burden for the nation's economy. "But no one's talking about this."

The crop insurance program has been redone twice since 1994, he said, to provide some type of insurance to farmers. It was improved each time it was changed.

But, Berry said, it needs to function as a safety net for farmers. Now, though, there is too much opportunity for the program to be abused.

"I don't have the answer," he said. "In Congress we don't do what's logical and makes sense. We do what those with the power to cram down our throat force us to do, and it's not right. I don't condone it, but that's the way it is."