News Coverage
Obama Backs Biofuels, Many Farm Ideas
Published November 9, 2008
Washington, D.C. - Barack Obama told voters that electing John McCain would be akin to giving President Bush a third term. But when it comes to agriculture, many farmers will be counting on the Obama administration to be Bush III.
In some ways it could.
Obama is every bit as big a fan as Bush of biofuels, a key underpinning of the farm economy.
There's no need for Obama to change course on farm policy either. Congress enacted a new farm bill that the Illinois senator supported, and all that's left for his administration is to implement whatever programs Bush's Agriculture Department doesn't get to.
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The Bush administration also has taken some major environmental issues off the table. The administration is issuing new rules for regulating water-pollution from livestock farms and feedlots and is implementing an agreement with the livestock industry to develop standards for air emissions.
Farm groups are betting the Obama administration won't want to revisit those issues.
Then there's trade. While running for the Democratic nomination, Obama pledged to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, but agribusiness interests are betting that was campaign rhetoric. The agreement has been a boon for a range of farm commodities, including grain and beef.
"Generally on farm policy, energy, on those issues we're in pretty good shape," said Mark Maslyn, executive director of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Obama's "expressed views and the people who have been close to him for the most part are consistent with where we want to go."
Maslyn said he doesn't think Obama is serious about renegotiating NAFTA. That pledge, Maslyn said, "had more to do with the primary elections."
But that doesn't mean there won't be some potential conflicts between Obama and farm groups. Among them:
- A trade agreement with Colombia backed by farm interests continues to languish in Congress because of opposition from trade unions.
- The Obama administration's approach to environmental regulation will depend in part, experts said, on the people he appoints to key jobs in the Environmental Protection Agency, including the enforcement office.
- Obama's Agriculture Department will be pushed by some lawmakers and activists to tighten eligibility rules for crop subsidies. At issue is the definition someone who is "actively engaged" in farming, a qualification for getting subsidies. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., has long pushed for rewriting the definition but couldn't get the Bush administration to act on it.
- Grassley also is pledging to renew his effort his effort in Congress to reduce limits on the amount of subsidies that farmers can get each year. That would result in a small amount of budget savings but would be strongly opposed by Southerners.
One big wild card - and a major issue where Bush and Obama differ - is on climate change. Obama has pledged to work with Congress to enact limits on greenhouse gas emissions. The question is what impact those would have on farmers. Farm groups will insist that they get paid for conservation tillage and other practices that reduce emissions. Farmers also don't want emissions from livestock operations to be capped.
But there will be a number of sticky issues to settle, including the rules for determining what practices or farmers would qualify.
Leon Corzine, an Illinois farmer and former president of the National Corn Growers Association who endorsed Obama's candidacy, said he has found him to be a quick study on farm issues and more positive toward trade than he appeared to be in the campaign. Corzine said he expects him to be "reasonable" on environmental issues. "He has always listened to me and others in agriculture."
As for environmentalists, they'll be glad to see Bush to go. But Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, said he isn't counting on Obama to necessarily challenge farm interests.
Obama's appointees will "expect you to come in with the facts and try to prevail on the merits and know the politics" of the issue, Cook said.
For Cook, that would be progress
