Farm bill talks hit a snag on #dairy, catfish

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Negotiations between lawmakers working to complete a new farm bill have stalled because of disagreements over a program to help dairy producers when milk prices drop, as well as a catfish inspection office at the Agriculture Department, according to people briefed on the talks.
 
Lawmakers failed to complete work on the legislation before the holiday recess and had hoped to put the finishing touches on the bill shortly after returning to Washington last week. But they hit a snag when Speaker John A. Boehner said he would not allow the dairy program to be part of a final bill voted on in the House.
 
The program, which limits dairy supplies to help bolster the price of milk, is generally opposed by conservatives. Boehner and Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, R-Va., called the program a “Soviet style” government bureaucracy that distorts the market.
 
The provision is supported by dairy producers and legislators from large milk-producing states, including Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., a member of the House Agriculture Committee, who said it was important to stabilize milk prices.
 
Dean Norton, the president of the New York Farm Bureau and a dairy farmer in Batavia, said the program was vital.
 
“This program keeps us from having these wild fluctuations in milk prices,” Norton said. “It’s just providing a safety net for producers. It’s not a direct subsidy, and it’s not a handout.”
 
The status of a catfish inspection program at the Agriculture Department also seemed to be impeding lawmakers.
 
The $20-million program has drawn considerable criticism because it duplicates a much cheaper program at the Food and Drug Administration. Despite the program’s costs, the Agriculture Department has yet to inspect a single catfish.
 
Catfish farmers and Southern lawmakers say the Agriculture Department’s program is needed to protect consumers from catfish imported from countries such as Vietnam. But critics call it a trade barrier designed to protect domestic catfish farmers.
 
In a letter sent to those working on the farm bill, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Wednesday called for a vote to repeal approval of the new inspection office.
 
McCain co-sponsored an amendment to repeal approval of the office in the Senate version of the farm bill last year. The measure never came up for a vote.
 
In his letter, McCain said the United States risked a trade war with Asian countries if the catfish office were not shut.
 
Source: El Paso Inc.

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Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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