Issue 27
March 2000

Top Issues the MAWG will be Tracking in 2000

At a series of small grain update meetings held across western MN this winter, leaders of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers briefed crop producers on  the top issues the MAWG will be tracking in 2000:

Crop insurance reform

Some sort of crop insurance reform is likely in 2000, and it could very well be a hybrid of three bills (one in the House, two in the Senate) being considered by federal lawmakers. Federal crop insurance legislation will be taken up in earnest late spring or early summer. Any legislation would likely begin in the 2001 crop year.  Along with keeping crop insurance reform efforts moving along, another key objective of the MAWG and the National Association of Wheat Growers is to keep the budget resolution that earmarks $6 billion to reform intact.

Federal farm bill changes/Market loss assistance

Hearings are being held across the country late this winter and early spring on recommendations to fix the current farm bill. The NAWG has already constructed a counter-cyclical price proposal that is being discussed with federal lawmakers. The fact that it is an election year will both hurt and help efforts to fine-tune the farm bill. On one hand, lawmakers will be more likely to listen and to act.  Control of both the Senate and the House is up for grabs, and the rural vote still matters much to both Republicans and Democrats.  On the other hand, legislative work will be cut short by campaigning. 

What might happen is that federal lawmakers might propose a tune-up to the farm bill to take effect in 2001, and simply pass another market loss assistance package this year to help producers manage another year of poor commodity prices.  Dry conditions in some areas of the country could result in another disaster assistance component to any market loss assistance package that federal lawmakers consider.

Budget surplus makes MN farm assistance promising

With Minnesota enjoying a budget surplus projected at well over $1 billion, another state farm assistance measure from the 2000 state legislature is promising, according to Bruce Kleven, the MAWG's state lobbyist in St. Paul.  Kleven says several ideas for assistance may be discussed, including another property tax rebate, or targeted relief.  Minnesota's 2000 session began at noon on Feb. 1, and Kleven expects lawmakers to recess sometime in April, then reconvene and adjourn after reviewing Ventura's actions on bills that reach his desk.

WTO negotiations

The World Trade Organization negotiations are expected to resume in Geneva later this year, although some analysts predict serious negotiating won't heat up until after the U.S. elections.  At any rate, what transpires is indeed important to the competitiveness of U.S. wheat in global grain markets, so U.S. wheat leaders will continue to follow and shape what's happening.  WTO positions on five trade issues important to U.S. wheat—economic barriers, export subsidies, state trading export monopolies, unilateral sanctions, and biotechnology—are explained on the website for U.S. Wheat Associates at: www.uswheat.org