Interpretation of new Farm Bill under way

By LYNN MONTGOMERY | East Texas Edition

June 20, 2002 -- It has been a month since the 2002 Farm Bill was signed by President Bush, but for many producers the question is "What do we do now?"

This question along with other questions were answered at an ag forum June 11 in Sulphur Springs. The forum was held during the Hopkins County Dairy Festival.

The 1,400+ pages of the Farm Bill is now in the interpretation stage by the Farm Services Agency (FSA).

"The bill that passed the House was 400+ pages, but when it passed the Senate it was over 1,400 pages," said Craig Trimm, a district director of FSA. "The FSA now has to interpret the bill and be trained on what to do."

The new six-year farm bill, which ends in 2007 is comprehensive, covering commodity programs, conservation, trade, nutrition programs, credit, rural development, research and related matters, forestry, energy and other related subjects.

One provision within the bill deals with counter cyclical programs (CCP). Explanation of how these programs will affect producers in not simple.

The signing of the bill was the easy part. The hours and hours it is going to take to interpret the bill will be the hard thing, according to Dr. Blake Bennett, Texas Cooperative Extension economist.

"The FSA office will be burning the midnight oil for a while trying to interpret this bill. Their number one priority will be interpreting and implementing the bill," Bennett continued.

"Remember your FSA office is going to be busy. Don't call asking a bunch of questions because there is a lot still to be interpreted," Bennett suggested.

"The producer will have to watch the market and it seems logical that they (producers) will have to work with FSA," said Trimm.

"In the future, we (Extension personnel) will have meetings in Sulphur Springs to try to help producers with he data that is needed for FSA," said Larry Spradlin, Hopkins County Extension agent.