05/04/06 A "donnybrook" over disaster aid

Farm and Ranch May 4, 2005 The U.S. Senate may pass today a supplemental spending bill that includes crop disaster assistance plus provide some relief for high energy input costs for farm program participants. But then there could be quite a showdown in the conference committee with the House of Representatives. Burns: "We've got a real challenge holding that 3.9 billion. I was the one that put it in there and we may have a real donnybrook about that before it is all over in our conference." That's Montana Republican Senator Conrad Burns speaking to farm broadcasters visiting Washington D. C. this week. The House of Representatives of course did not include ag disaster assistance in its emergency spending bill that primarily covers funding for the war in Iraq and hurricane relief. The higher price tag of the Senate bill also has the President threatening a veto. That leads Iowa Senator Charles Grassley to think assistance for agriculture won't survive the conference. Grassley: "And you would figure with the needs with the war on terror and a few other things, that that would be one of the things to come out." The USDA doesn't believe producers need any more government help right now. In that regard, Mark Gaede with the staff of the National Association of Wheat Growers, has a challenge. Gaede: "The president of our association, when he sat down with his bankers last fall, they said if he had a good crop this year he will lose a 100-thousand dollars. Now, I would challenge the Secretary or anyone else to make that work. You pencil that out Mr. Secretary." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.