Growers and Grocers

On February 2nd, forty farming, environmental and other groups sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY) requesting that the Budget Committee authorize sufficient funds to create a Farm Bill that will “provide a safety net for our agricultural producers, expand production of renewable energy, protect our natural resources, reduce hunger, expand access to healthier diets and enhance rural development.” The reason the letter asks for action by the Budget Committee instead of the Agriculture Committee is that only the Budget Committee has the authority to increase the amount of funds available for the Farm Bill beyond the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline (see this post at Farmpolicy.com for a detailed explanation of the CBO baseline). As corn and soybean prices have risen over the past few months, the CBO baseline has dropped significantly, thus leaving little for conservation programs, biofuels development, anti-hunger programs, and so forth.

What I found interesting — and the reason I wrote this post — is the collection of groups that signed the letter. You don’t often see the American Bird Conservancy and the National Corn Growers Association signing a letter together. Or Environmental Defense and the National Potato Council. Or the National Audubon Society and the Western Growers Association.

Perhaps whoever assembled this collection of forty groups is one of the answers to the Ethicurean’s question, “Who’s going to unite these groups and remind them that preserving farmland, practicing conservation, and encouraging crop diversity is in the interest of all Americans?” But my guess is that coordinating work with this many groups is a bit like herding cats, especially for something so large and complex as the Farm Bill.