JUNE 1996
Pettus Hits
Ground Running
for NBGA on 0/85 Issue
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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
Hofer wanted to stay on through the crafting of the new farm bill. There was a lot of apprehension last year about how the new bill would be shaped, but he says that "in the final analysis, our people are fairly satisfied with it. The transition payments made it easier, and farmers will like the new planting flexibility." Congress does have the option to tinker with the legislation, and Hofer thinks there's a 30 percent chance we could see changes before the seven-year life of the bill expires.
Two highlights for Hofer while serving the NBGA: helping to secure a distinction of malting barley from feed barley in the calculation of barley deficiency payments, and elimination of the federal malting barley assessment.
Golf, fishing, and spending time with five grandchildren are some of the priorities on Hofer's retirement "to-do" list. Will he miss trampling over to Capitol Hill for various ag policy issues? "A little bit. We've got a lot of friends here, so we're likely to stay around. Washington has a lot going on. With the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, and lots of music opportunities, it's a good place for freebies for retirees."
Hofer says the NBGA will be served well in Pettus. "Jack's well-wired; he knows a lot of people and has the connections. If I would lend counsel at all it would be to communicate well with the board. You have to be honest and you have to work at building a good board relationship."
Pettus already has been working part-time for the NBGA since January, assisting Hofer on barley issues during mark-up of the new farm bill. He has a background that should serve the NBGA well: Pettus previously worked for a commission charged to review the operations of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation; has worked on the House Ag Committee staff and under its former Chairman, E "Kika" de la Garza. Most recently, Pettus was a senior analyst for World Perspectives Inc., a Washington policy analysis and consulting firm.
How a new law is implemented is just as or even more important than its passage, and Pettus is already involved in trying to address what the NBGA believes is a glitch in the payment calculation structure. Included in the fiscal 1996 base payment level for program crops is a subtraction of the payment to producers who participated in the 0/85 program for 1994 and 1995 crops. It would mean a $21 million loss from the total FY96 barley payment of $120 million: a bigger hit compared to other program crops.
The NBGA was still trying to address the issue at this writing, the end of May. Questions on other issues in the legislation are also bound to come up. "Implementation of this farm bill is going to be an issue for another year, at least," says Pettus.