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<< Previous   of   Next >> Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Brandon Henning (left) and his father, Cliff, feed young Jersey calves at their Stanwood farm. Previous farm aid bills have kept the family in business. Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Revisions to the controversial farm bill could spread more money to specialty crop farmers such as Keith Stocker of Snohomish.   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Senate blocks $286 billion farm bill 11/16/07 • Northwest senators split in farm bill vote 11/16/07   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, November 4, 2007 Will the farm bill be a cash crop for local growers? New subsidies for specialty crops could bring more aid to county farms. By Yoshiaki Nohara and Kaitlin Manry Herald Writers Cliffhaven Jersey Farm in Stanwood almost went under two years ago when milk prices plummeted. Cliff Henning said controversial subsidies in the federal farm bill saved his farm. Now the second-generation farmer is able to pass the family business down to his son. "It helps so you don't go broke," Henning said. "I never hear a farmer saying he doesn't want the farm bill. We all can complain and want to tweak things, but for the most part, we want the bill." The farm bill that helped Henning expires later this year and lawmakers are shaping the next version that would cost $288 billion over the next five years. The bill will provide aid for farmers throughout the country, including Washington, where agriculture has remained the state's biggest employer for decades. Overall, farmers in Snohomish and Island counties are expected to continue to receive little of the federal subsidies that critics say benefit Fortune 500 farmers at the expense of struggling family farms. But local farmers who grow fruits, vegetables and nursery products could soon get more federal help to sell their produce and recover faster from disasters. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said a new feature that would set aside $850 million in disaster relief is important for Western Washington farmers. "We have a number of really critical farms, particularly in Skagit and Snohomish counties, that have not qualified for these programs before," Murray said. "If we have major flooding and it wipes out our berry crop in Skagit County, for example, there's no funding to help those farmers get back on their feet." Murray and the rest of the U.S. Senate are about to debate a version of the legislation. The House passed its version in July. Once the measure passes the Senate, lawmakers will hammer out differences between the two versions to create the final legislation. The Senate version of the bill plans to set aside $2.2 billion for specialty crops. The House version has $1.6 billion for those crops. That almost quadruples the amount of such money in the current Farm bill, passed in 2002. The money would be used to help specialty crop farmers, such as those who grow blueberries, apples or pumpkins, to market and export their produce. They also would qualify for money to pay for research on new growing methods and to control pests and disease. "Farmers are good at farming," Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said. "They didn't get into farming to become marketing professionals." Lawmakers' excitement doesn't seem to resonate with farmers in Snohomish and Island counties. The farm bill traditionally has benefited wheat farmers with commodity subsidies in Eastern Washington. Such payments have never been given for specialty crop farmers, who account for more than half of the state's agricultural economy. Ed Husmann, who raises apples in Sultan, said he hasn't followed the farm bill debate closely. Setting aside more money for specialty crops is distracting from more serious issues local farmers are facing, Husmann said. These issues include stringent environmental regulations and the lack of a good guest-worker program, said Husmann, president of the Snohomish County Farm Bureau. And, he added, the county continues to lose farmland to urban development and conservation programs. Keith Stocker, a fourth-generation farmer in the Snohomish River Valley, raises berries and vegetables at his 200-acre farm. The Stockers' strawberries, raspberries, green beans and sweet corn is sold at their own food stand next to Harvey Field. If the state uses the federal grants to connect local consumers with local producers, that would help his business, Stocker said. "It will depend on how grants can be used," he said. The state now channels about $182,000 of federal grants to specialty crop farmers each year, said Valoria Loveland, Washington state Department of Agriculture director. The amount is expected to increase substantially in 2008. The department supports the new farm bill along with major agriculture groups such as the Washington State Farm Bureau, which has about 35,000 families as its members. Meanwhile, the new farm bill would likely continue to give away billions of dollars in subsidies to big farmers of such commodities as corn, wheat and cotton. Provisions that allow property owners to receive subsidies even after they finish farming are also controversial. The subsidies, created during the Great Depression, affect food prices and consumers. If corn subsidies drop, fewer farmers would grow corn. That drives up prices for cornmeal and cereal, like corn flakes. In Snohomish and Island counties, Sherman-Bishop Farms Inc. in Coupeville received more subsidies than any other farm between 1995 and 2005. The dairy and crop farm received $391,613 during the 10-year period, primarily in corn and dairy subsidies. While it sounds like a lot, the money wasn't much for a farm that employed 10 families full-time, said Karen Bishop, whose family co-owned the farm with another family until August. Eastern Washington farms received millions of dollars in subsidies and Arkansas farms earned hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies during the same time frame. The way subsidies work baffles Bishop. The dairy farm raised corn to feed the cows. Farmers who grow corn receive subsidies, even if they don't sell the crop. Thus, the Bishops benefited from subsidies meant to help farmers compensate for low corn prices. "It's funny because when the price of corn is down, dairy farmers make more money," said Bishop, who now runs a crop and heifer farm with her husband. "I always just felt like when corn prices were low, that really wasn't the intent of the (subsidies). I certainly never complained about it. When you're farming, it seems like there's never too much money." Lawmakers in farm states such as Arkansas, Kansas and Iowa dominate the agricultural committees in Congress. Washington, on the other hand, has little voice on the farm bill with none of its lawmakers serving on the committees. (Larsen served on the House agriculture committee until last year.) In addition to subsidies, the Farm bill has many other programs such as food stamps and school-lunch programs that attract support from urban state lawmakers. "The farm lobby is very powerful," said Michelle Perez, a senior analyst for the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C. "Even though most senators come from states that don't benefit from the current subsidies approach, because of so many reasons they've made political calculations that they need to vote with the status quo rather than undertake a radical change." Nevertheless, the farm bill is slowly evolving to benefit more farmers of fruits and vegetables in Washington. Local farmers are waiting to see what kinds of seeds that politics will sow for their farms. "In the future of the farm bill, some of the farms that are trying to produce for a more local consumer are hopefully going to benefit," Bishop said. "Subsidies are very political. Hopefully there will be something in it for those who have a smaller voice." Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com. Farm bill history For more than seven decades, the U.S. government has given farmers money to offset low prices and stay in business. President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated farm subsidies in 1933 to help millions of farmers suffering during the Great Depression. Since the Depression, the subsidies have evolved into a complicated network of programs that include food stamps and are expected to cost taxpayers $288 billion over the next five years. Most of the subsidies go to farmers who grow crops Congress considers staples, such as corn, wheat, rice and soybeans. These subsidies are designed to make sure the U.S. has a reliable and relatively cheap supply of food. Cotton also gets favored. Critics say these subsidies often go to wealthy farmers who don't need them. Provisions that allow property owners to receive subsidies even after they finish farming are also controversial. Other subsidies are designed to help farmers recover their losses if prices drop too much or if a disaster wipes out their crop. Farmers and other landowners can also receive money for conserving land near creeks and streams. Though the subsides go primarily to farmers, they affect shoppers, too. Food prices rise and fall as the subsidies in the Farm Bill change.

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