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FARGO --
Agricultural interests got their say with President Bush joining 20
Republican ag leaders Thursday in a private meeting after his speech.
"He spent an hour with us," said North
Dakota House Agriculture Chairman Gene Nicholas, R-Cando.
"One of the guys said that's unprecedented
for him to give that much time to any group."
Among other things, Nicholas said, the group told
Bush about a problem with crop revenue insurance coverage for durum
wheat.
"They're dropping the price from what
farmers thought would be $4.84 or $4.90 a bushel to about $3.40 a
bushel," Nicholas said. "That was a very significant thing.
He said he would look into it." Bush said he was interested in
biodiesel, or vegetable-oil-based fuel, and ethanol, Nicholas said.
Aware
"Everybody participated," said Senate
Majority Leader Gary Nelson, R-Casselton, also a farmer. "We were
able to explain to him and understand that he's aware.
"He's aware of stuffed molasses coming down
from Canada. He's aware of our concerns with the Mexican market."
The group talked to Bush about getting more pinto
beans into Mexico.
"Obviously he isn't going to sit there and
say, 'Yes, by golly, I'm going to take care that,' but I think
everyone was happy to see the amount of knowledge that he had."
Before Bush's speech, an eclectic group of farm
leaders held an informal news conference. They presented a solid front
on two issues: the need for emergency spending on agriculture in 2001
and the need for sufficient money in the budget for a new farm policy
when the current five-year farm bill expires in 2002.
"Agriculture is very important in North
Dakota. It's the major part of our state's economy, and we want to
make sure that agriculture is a part of this administration,"
said Roger Johnson, North Dakota's commissioner of agriculture."
Confident
Eric Aasmundstad, president of the North Dakota
Farm Bureau, said: "We're very, very confident, President Bush
being a very successful governor from the second-largest agricultural
state in the nation; we're very confident that agriculture is going to
get its due in this administration."
Robert Carlson, president of the North Dakota
Farmers Union, said every year since 1998 there have been emergency
appropriations to help prop up farm income.
"USDA projects that farm income will drop
even more dramatically in 2001," Carlson said. He said emergency
farm spending isn't yet in Bush's budgets, but sounded hopeful because
the president has not delivered a "detailed" budget.
Also on hand was Don Wenell, chief executive
officer of Fargo-based Farm Credit Services Ag Country, which covers a
large area of western Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota.
The group had its own details on at least two
issues:
Approve $9 billion in emergency economic
assistance for agriculture this year. Prices are still down while farm
costs, including fuel and fertilizer, are skyrocketing.
Increase annual baseline spending by at least $12
billion over the next 10 years. "We believe that this level of
spending will be necessary to enact a new farm bill that meets the
needs of producers." |