We are off to a strong start in writing a new farm bill in both the Senate and House agriculture committees. Of course, the “farm bill” encompasses much more than the name might suggest. It covers many issues in which all Americans have a stake — from producing food and fiber to conserving our natural resources, promoting rural development, alleviating hunger and poor nutrition, investing in food and agricultural research and — ever more importantly — securing our nation’s energy future.

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 has served the nation well. But it is essential to rewrite farm bills periodically, since the food and agriculture sector changes so rapidly.

A core mission of the farm bill is to promote profitability and income potential in agriculture. In 2002, we restored a stronger “countercyclical” element to protect farm income more effectively. There is a continuing need for an effective system to help agricultural producers survive the vagaries of markets and weather, and we will consider modifications and improvements. Independent farmers and ranchers also need fair, open and competitive markets to survive and make a living. So we need to strengthen both competition laws and their enforcement. And we need to help producers find new marketing avenues and income opportunities, such as direct-to-consumer sales.

Our farm bill has international dimensions, even if a new World Trade Organization agreement is not imminent. In the United States, as elsewhere, farm programs are necessarily becoming less production- and trade-distorting. The new farm bill needs to help our agricultural producers and rural communities prepare for this challenging new era.
The 2002 farm bill boosted our investment in forward-looking, non-trade distorting initiatives such as conservation, rural development, farm-based renewable energy, and critical food and agriculture research. Yet it is funding for these initiatives that has suffered heavily in subsequent budget-cutting actions. Clearly, we must reverse this damage and make the critical investments for the future.

It is vital to our national security that the new farm bill build on the 2002 bill’s energy title to enhance security in fuel as well as food and fiber. Weaning America from its addiction to imported oil will also improve farm income and boost rural economic growth and jobs. It’s now evident that farm-based renewable energy will be a major driving force in the new farm bill.

Rural America is among the best places to live and raise a family, but too often is a tough place to make a living and support a family. The farm bill is the single most important piece of legislation for spurring rural development and improving the quality of life in rural communities. We must do more to assist those communities that have seized the initiative to plan strategically and build their futures. That assistance has to include improving our rural infrastructure, including electricity, drinking water, wastewater treatment, and high-speed Internet access, which has now become a necessity.

There is strong, broad support among farmers, ranchers, and the general public to make a stronger federal investment in agricultural conservation: enhancing water and air quality, reducing soil erosion and increasing wildlife habitat, for example. USDA has good programs, but far too little funding. It is especially critical to reverse the deep budget cuts to the Conservation Security Program — an innovative system of incentives for conservation on working land — so it can blossom as the fully-funded national program enacted in the 2002 farm bill.

Our investments in the future also must include research and development that will maintain America’s competitive edge in producing food, fiber, renewable energy, and bio-based products. America’s investment in agricultural research, extension, and education has fallen far behind in recent years, with almost no increase in inflation-adjusted dollars over the last two decades. The potential of agricultural research is exemplified in the millions of lives saved by the Green Revolution. The new farm bill ought to unleash a new Green Revolution driven by farm-based renewable energy and bio-based products.

We also need to bolster the Department of Agriculture’s efforts to improve nutrition and health, and to fight hunger. Food insecurity is higher today than in 2000 — and that’s unacceptable in a nation as wealthy as ours. We also need to further the great success of the school fruit and vegetable snack initiative, which I created in the 2002 farm bill.
The initial work in writing the new farm bill has been bipartisan and constructive — and I intend to keep it that way. There is no room for ideology or rigid thinking in this effort. We need to think boldly toward the objective of practical solutions that work in the real world. In the new farm bill, not just our economic security, but also our national security, is directly at stake.

Harkin is the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

SPECIAL REPORT: FARM BILL 

‘National security at stake’
Benefits extend to all Americans
New markets and a minimum of regulation — creating opportunities for American agriculture
Change for the better
Energy opportunities create new farm-policy possibilities
From ‘rock oil’ to switchgrass: energy development in the U.S.
Specialty crops should be made a farm-bill priority  
Current farm programs help little
In many states, agriculture is backbone of society
A seat at the table for specialty-crop growers