September 21, 2011
www.gfb.org
Vol. 29 No. 38
NCGA PROPOSES DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR 2012 FARM BILL The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has submitted a commodity title proposal for the 2012 farm bill that would replace direct payments and counter-cyclical payments and modify the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program. Called the Agriculture Disaster Assistance Program (ADAP), the plan would use about 70 percent of the current $4.9 billion annual cost of the direct payment program to pay for the new program and offer the remaining 30 percent for deficit reduction. It is based on the current structure of the ACRE program and incorporates the use of harvest prices and crop reporting districts instead of state yields to set the crop revenue guarantee. It also establishes a guarantee based on the five-year Olympic average of revenue. Producers would sign up on a yearly basis. Payments under the NGCA plan would be limited to 10 percent of the guarantee, based on planted acres and adjusted to a farm’s yield. Payments would cover lost revenue between 85 and 95 percent of the guarantee. Marketing loan rates would be restored to standard levels rather than being reduced by 30 percent in the current ACRE structure. “While today’s farm bill provides critical assistance to farmers when they face a significant loss, growers also need a program that can efficiently address gaps in protection that cannot be addressed by federal crop insurance alone,” said NGCA President Bart Schott. “ADAP will assist in streamlining those goals and ensure farmers are better protected when revenue is lost due to crop disease, volatile commodity markets and adverse weather across multiple years.” In a related move in August, the National Cotton Council proposed switching to revenue-based crop insurance after concluding that available funds for direct and counter-cyclical payments would be severely reduced. The NCC also attempted to address concerns that budget cuts might also breach a resolution between the U.S. and Brazil in a World Trade Organization dispute over cotton payments to growers. National Cotton Council representatives presented that proposal to members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Both the NCGA and NCC proposals are in response to passage of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which set up a Joint Select Committee on Debt Reduction. The committee is tasked with recommending legislation that will reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion by Nov. 23. The Joint Select Committee is to receive recommended cuts from committees of jurisdiction (including the House and Senate Ag Committees) by Oct. 14.