Senate Rejection of Unfair Payment Limits is “Hard-Fought Victory for Rice”

WASHINGTON, November 3, 2005 — The Senate’s 53-46 rejection today of an amendment that would have resulted in unfair and unjustified farm program payment limitations was welcome news for rice producers and others who have been under fire in recent months amid Bush administration efforts to scale back the budget to reduce federal spending.

“The Senate vote is a hard-fought victory for rice farmers,” said Paul T. Combs, USA Rice Producers’ Group chairman. “A further reduction in farm program payments limits would adversely affect the majority of U.S. rice producers,” Combs said.

He explained, “Given the current economic conditions facing our rice producers and much of agriculture, it would be unfair to change in mid-stream a policy that would lead to greater uncertainty. We need the stability and predictability provided by farm programs that allow producers to make long-term business plans and provides lenders with the confidence that a strong safety net remains in place.”

That safety net, the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA) — the 2002 Farm Bill approved by Congress and signed by the president — made a 6-year commitment to America’s farmers to provide price and income support to help weather the unpredictable nature of agriculture, Combs explained.

The amendment, sponsored by Sens. Charles Grassley's (R-IA) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), would have lowered the amount farmers may receive in federal payments from $360,000 to $250,000.

“We sincerely thank the senators who voted today to support America’s farmers and ranchers and to honor the commitment made to them in the 2002 Farm Bill,” Combs said.

“Unfairly lowering farm program payments would disproportionately impact certain commodities and regions,” he said.

All 12 rice state-senators voted in opposition to the Grassley proposal.

“The U.S rice industry greatly appreciates the leadership of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Thad Cochran (R-MS) for speaking against the amendment as well as the leadership of all 12 rice state senators, including: Sens. Christopher Bond (R-MO), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Trent Lott (R-MS), Jim Talent (R-MO), and David Vitter (R-LA) for voting against the amendment and preserving the terms of the 2002 Farm Bill.”

The Senate later today is expected to pass the Budget Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (S. 1932), the legislation to which Grassley and Dorgan attempted to add their amendment. That legislation would reduce Federal spending by $39 billion over 5 years. The House is scheduled to consider its version of the measure next week and USA Rice encourages the House to reject any similar amendments.

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Contacts: Reece Langley, (703) 236-1471, rlangley@usarice.com, Johnny Broussard, (703) 236-1451, jbroussard@usarice.com

USA Rice Federation is the national advocate for all segments of the rice industry, conducting activities to influence government programs, developing and initiating programs to increase worldwide demand for U.S. rice, and providing other services to increase profitability for all industry segments.