USDA Pushing Efforts To Boost
Ag Exports In Face Of Plenty

WASHINGTON —(AP)— Amid some grumbling in Congress about the impact of the 1996 free-market farm law, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman last Thursday outlined new steps intended to boost foreign trade and shore up sagging farm prices.

Glickman told the Senate Agriculture Committee that government intervention is needed to help U.S. farm exports overcome the effects of foreign trade barriers and the continuing financial downturn in Asia.

"We must not forsake our own responsibility," Glickman said. "Rain or shine, bear or bull, we need to look out for our farmers and ranchers."

The actions come as farmers face depressed prices for a wide range of commodities, including wheat, hogs, cattle, dairy products and corn, and the prospects of big crops again this year. The Agriculture Department now projects that net farm income will drop $4 billion this year compared to 1997.

Some members of Congress say the United States has not been aggressive enough in trying to open foreign markets and promote overseas sales, a key to the 1996 "Freedom to Farm" law that ended the old Depression-era subsidies that paid farmers when prices took a dive.

In fact, there is even talk of changing that law to prevent farmers in some regions, particularly the wheat-growing Northern Plains, from deep losses that are putting many out of business.

"We may have to (reopen the law) if it gets worse or stays as bad as it is," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

One of the main authors of the 1996 law, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said Glickman's new export proposals should be given time to work. He added that Congress must push for the International Monetary Fund relief bill for Asia and for presidential fast-track trade negotiating authority to further help farmers.

"I don't think reopening the farm bill is the way to do that," Roberts said.

The Agriculture Committee chairman, Sen. Dick Lugar, said lawmakers should be aware that free markets can have "devastating consequences" that should be dealt with, but not at the entire farm law's cost.

"We need to be mindful of that without wrecking the whole policy," said Lugar, R-Ind.

The steps outlined by Glickman on Thursday are:

— Allowing "ghost tonnage" totaling about $50 million in dairy products to be shipped, even though the annual export limit has been reached. The tonnage represents shipments authorized in previous years that were never used.

— Using the Export Enhancement Program to subsidize farm products in retaliation for unfair trade practices of other countries. In the first example, the United States would subsidize about 20,000 tons of poultry for sale to the Middle East. This would compete with the European Union, which is blocking imports of American chicken in a dispute over sanitation practices.

— Subisizing exporters whose cargos are unexpectedly and unfairly turned away at foreign ports.

— A request to Congress to pass legislation allowing any money left in the export program at the end of the year to be used to purchase farm products for other food programs, ranging from foreign aid to the U.S. food security reserve. That carryover is often spent on unrelated items.