Read white paper draft,
Toward a
Global Food and Agricultural Policy
By Mike Duffy, Associate director and
Policy Initiative leader
The debate over the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill has
already begun. Several groups and organizations are
proposing and analyzing alternatives. The condition of the
farm economy during the deliberations will have significant
impact on the legislation that emerges. The federal budget
and the deficit also will be driving forces that shape the
debate and resulting bill.
In addition to the condition of the farm economy and the
overall U.S. economy, the state of the world economy will
impact the negotiations. The Brazilian government announced
a lawsuit against the United States earlier this year
regarding a portion of our current cotton subsidy programs.
At a recent World Trade Organization meeting, there was
considerable discussion and disfavor was expressed,
especially by the Third World countries, over U.S. subsidy
policies.
Finally, a recent announcement has signaled a shift in the
U.S. position related to balance of agricultural trade. The
2005 forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
indicate that the United States will have a neutral or
negative trade balance for the first time since 1959. The
gloomy trade balance forecast is a result of a 10 percent
drop in the value of U.S. exports (wheat, corn, soybeans and
cotton) and a 6 percent increase in the value of our
agricultural imports.
The change in the balance of trade is due in large part to
the reduction in the price of U.S. crops. Regardless of the
cause, the facts that a) it is occurring at all, and b) that
agricultural trade has been used to help offset our trade
deficits in other areas mean the change in status will be
receiving a lot of attention.
First step: What to consider
The Leopold Center's Policy Initiative has a keen interest
in the looming debate over the farm bill and its provisions.
While we do not promote specific pieces of legislation, we
will provide information to clarify the debate.
As a first step in the process, the Policy Initiative
convened a group of experts to examine the possible
directions and considerations for the next farm bill.
Representatives of several organizations were involved,
including Traci Bruckner, Center for Rural Affairs; Neil
Harl, Iowa State University; Paul Johnson, farmer; Daryll
Ray, University of Tennessee; and Mark Ritchie, Institute
for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Fred Kirschenmann and I
represented the Leopold Center. We met for the first time in
April and gathered again in May. The group discussed
far-ranging aspects of agriculture, environmental, and trade
policies and decided to write a paper proposing a new
approach to agricultural policy.
Second step: Look to the future
It is a timeworn cliche to refer to "being at a crossroads."
Agriculture, however, really is at one of those life
crossroads, which is one of the themes expressed in the
policy group's paper. Before we can have a meaningful debate
regarding the next farm bill, we must recognize that
agriculture is entirely different from when the current farm
programs were conceived.
The Policy Initiative group tried to look at many critical
issues and how they shape agricultural policy. What we saw
was a strong need to approach agricultural policy more
broadly than in past. Henry Wallace was met with
considerable doubt when he was trying to establish a
national agricultural policy in the 1930s. Similarly, any
discussion of a world agricultural policy today is met with
skepticism and a list of reasons why it won't work. Yet we
definitely need to start thinking of a world agricultural
policy that includes energy (both production and use) as a
key element.
Our group doesn't pretend to have the answers to craft a
comprehensive global agricultural policy. We only hope that
the paper will contribute to the discussion. Like it or not,
we are part of a global society and we need to start
thinking and acting like one. Agriculture is the best place
to start.
The draft paper that we developed looks at the current U.S.
price and income policy and the structural transformation
that is occurring not only here but also in the rest of the
world. And the paper calls attention to the need for more
rural community policies. We considered resource and
conservation needs in a global ag economy. If we are going
to have a truly sustainable system, we must consider the all
ramifications of our actions.
The white paper, "Toward a Global Food and Agricultural
Policy," is in a second draft version. If you have comments
or want to discuss the paper, please contact me at the
Leopold Center, (515) 294-3711, or
leocenter@iastate.edu.
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