In the 30 years he's been farming, John Thaemert says,there have been three years when he felt as optimistic about thewheat outlook as he does in 2008.
Two days before Thaemert, the president of the NationalAssociation of Wheat Growers, said that, nearby spring wheatfutures briefly touched an astounding $25 a bushel on theMinneapolis Grain Exchange.
But Thaemert says farmers have seen plenty of other years whenwheat futures were trading below the loan rate, which is why hisand other farm organizations are pushing so hard for a new farmbill.
"We simply can't forget about the farm bill,"Thaemert said in an interview at the Commodity Classic inNashville. "We need a safety net to make sure we can keepfarmers on the land and rural communities from disappearing whenprices decline."
"We think we have a budget number," he said,referring to reports the agriculture committee chairmen and theadministration officials had agreed to spend $9.6 billion over theCBO baseline. "We need that amount.
"We hope to get a farm bill on the president's desk-- and that he will sign it -- within the next twoweeks." (Thaemert, a wheat farmer from Sylvan Grove, Kan.,was interviewed on Feb. 28.)
He said the $9.6 billion would not provide funding for the loanrate and target price adjustments wheat growers have been seekingin the new farm bill. But it will continue direct payments.
"Direct payments are the most WTO-compliant part of thecommodity title," he said. "Farmers can budget for it,they can show that to their lender and it can help offset thedeductible for federal crop insurance coverage."
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkins seemed toacknowledge the political clout of the Wheat Growers and other farmgroups when he was asked about direct payments on Feb. 28.
Harkin said he suggested a cut in direct payments during thecommittee mark-up of the farm bill but didn't have the votesto pass it. The administration hasn't shown much interest inreducing direct payments, either.
Instead, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer and Deputy SecretaryChuck Conner seem more interested in beating up on commercial-sizedfarmers who provide 70 percent of the nation's crops, asKansas State University economist Barry Flinchbaugh noted at theCommodity Classic.
The payment limit reforms the administration is pushingwon't fill the $10 billion to $12 billion gap between the CBObaseline and what the Senate bill envisioned for commodity,conservation, energy, rural development and nutrition programs.
Flinchbaugh says administration leaders and other farm bill foesseem to think high prices for corn, soybeans and wheat haveeliminated the need for a farm safety net. "We hope theseprices are here to stay, but we know they will go down at somepoint," said Thaemert, who also holds down a banking job whenhe isn't farming or traveling for the NAWG. "Theyhaven't repealed the economic cycle."Delta Farm Press Online Exclusive
