U.S. agriculture chief wants farmers to think outside the farm

U.S. agriculture chief wants farmers to think outside the farm With the new Congress gearing up to debate the 2007 Farm Bill, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns wants farmers to prepare for a world without subsidies.
   The 2002 Farm Bill provided farmers with $32 billion in subsidies. Today that level has fallen to about $20 billion. With increasingly efficient agricultural production, more U.S. farmers today prefer a subsidy-free business model.
   As an active player in the World Trade Organization, the United States is also under pressure to eliminate nearly all its agriculture subsidies. This week Canada asked for WTO consultations related to U.S. domestic support programs for corn. Other U.S. subsidy programs for agriculture commodities, such as cotton, have come under fire from members in the WTO in recent years.
   'I want to assure you that we will continue to aggressively defend these programs, but there is no denying that we are being challenged on the world stage,' Johanns warned farmers attending the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting in Salt Lake City Monday.
   'As we develop our farm bill proposals, we're paying attention to trade commitments,' he said. 'Previous farm bills have acknowledged the importance of trade and trade commitments, but never has it been more important.'
   Johanns reminded farmers of major commodities, such as cotton, rice and cattle hides, about the massive quantities they ship abroad each year. It's estimated that every third row of corn and soybean grown in the United States today is exported. U.S. agriculture exports reached a record $68.7 billion in 2006 and are expected to reach $77 billion in 2007.
   The agriculture secretary said that all-out resistance to curtail U.S. domestic subsidies could damage many farmers' future trade opportunities.
   'The market that we don't claim will be claimed by somebody else,' Johanns said. 'You can cuss it, you can discuss it, but it's reality. So we must pay close attention to our international trade commitments as we contemplate future farm policy.'