Contra Costa Times May 9, 2001 By Lisa Vorderbrueggen
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. _ California farmers are in crisis, state Farm Bureau Federation President Bill Pauli, told a bipartisan Washington, D.C.-based policy institute Tuesday.
Twenty-year lows on crop prices plus, death taxes, unfair foreign competition, soaring energy and production costs are threatening half the nation's source of fresh fruit and vegetables and leaving rural communities vulnerable to economic disaster, said the Mendocino County winegrape and pear grower.
"While much of the state and nation has enjoyed a booming economy the past few years, agriculture has gone bust," said Pauli during a speech to the California Institute for Federal Policy Research. "It's critical that we recognize the real need for agricultural relief."
The farm bureau is among a growing number of groups speaking up for agriculture as Congress prepares to adopt the next generation of farming policies as part of the 2002 Farm Bill.
Increased global competition and the strong U.S. dollar has hit many of the nation's farmers and ranchers in the wallet as cheaper, overseas products flood the domestic market.
The East Bay, for example, has seen its cut flower industry nearly disappear and has lost hundreds of acres of farm and ranch lands to urban expansion.
"Apples from China have driven the price down to where we cannot grow them and generate a profit," said Bob Nunn of Nunn Family Farms in Brentwood.
Unlike Midwestern farmers who harvest crops such as wheat or oats, California fruit and vegetable growers receive no direct federal crop subsidies.
In fact, California historically collects a disproportionately small percent of federal agricultural dollars, said Tim Randsdell, director of the California Institute for Federal Policy Research.
The farm bureau and others hope U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman's California roots _ she was the state's secretary of food and agriculture _ will end the fiscal drought.
"It was great news for California when Veneman was appointed," he said.
To help influence national farm policy, California Secretary of Food and Agriculture Bill Lyons and his counterparts in New Mexico, Florida, Arizona and Texas this summer will submit ideas for the 2002 Farm Bill.
"We're still working on those recommendations, but our secretary is a rancher and he is dedicated to exploring a variety of remedies," said department spokesman Steve Lyle.
Meanwhile, the farm bureau is lobbying for $1.5 billion a year in federal subsidies for producers of fruits and vegetables, more equitable trade policies, cash to buy conservation easements from farmers and an end to taxes that penalize heirs to family farms.
He cited a recent bureau poll which showed that 71 percent of 800 voters questioned believe the federal government has a responsibility to help California farmers stay in business.
Without help, many farmers may be forced to shut down and sell their lands for development, and critical open space and wildlife habitat will be lost, Pauli warned.
The American Farmland Trust, a national group committed to preserving farms, agrees with Pauli.
"We share the bureau's concerns," said spokesman Terry Witzel. "The public wants to preserve farms, not only to have locally grown produce available but for open space and habitat."
But the agricultural community is deeply divided on how far the federal government should go to save the family farm.
Bob Nunn, whose family has farmed in Brentwood for 100 years, wants no part of subsidies. Like many of their neighbors, the Nunns have built houses on land they once cultivated.
Farming is a business and should be treated like any other endeavor, he said.
"Are we going to create government policy that forces public taxpayers to support a business that is not viable?" he asked. "The problem is global and we're not going to fix it with protectionism policies. Agriculture has to adapt to a global economy."
The nation's food supply should not be subject to the vagaries of the free market, countered Solano County farmer and UC-Davis professor Al Medvitz.
"Agriculture is not economically viable because of a series of policy decisions that have been made over the last 30 years which led to unfair market conditions," Medvitz said.
"It's been the function of government since the beginning of society to ensure a stable and adequate food supply for its people. This is no different."
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(c) 2001, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).
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