Farm Bill Hearings
During June, July, August and September, the U.S. Senate Ag Committee brought formal, regional hearings to communities.  Informal comment is welcomed at any time through our webform.
Review the record of these field hearings through audio replay and opening statements of witnesses.

Agriculture and the budget
Ag's mandatory spending to grow slowly at 1-point-6 percent for farm, conservation, nutrition and research while the rest of government grows rapidly at just over 6 percent.  Ag Committee's views and estimates 

“Crop program spending thru 2005 is $13 billion less than projected by the Congressional Budget Office in 2002 – now that we are about two thirds of the way through the current Farm Bill.” - Chairman Chambliss

Ag budget and farm bill spending news releases.

Senate votes against payment limitation changes
53 Senators back Chairman Chambliss against change for eligibility limits for crop payments. 
Chambliss warns of impacts in Senate debate:
• direct payments would cut to $20,000 (:23 audio)
• payment to producers actively farming (:20 audio)
(free audio software)

Chambliss: On Agriculture
Entrusting the American food supply to the reliability of the American farmer. 
Farm Bill: Budgeted and delivering support

2002 Farm Bill and Conservation:
Conservation Security Program Rules
CSP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to conserve and improve soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life on tribal and private working lands—cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pasture and rangeland, as well as certain forested land that is an incidental part of an agriculture operation. CSP participation

Conservation Reserve Program Re-enrollments
Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices will begin
notifying certain CRP participants by mail with expiring
contracts in 2007 if they are eligible for re-enrollments
or two- to five-year extensions. Participants eligible for
re-enrollment will be offered a 10- or 15-year contract
provided there are restored wetlands on the original land enrolled in the contract. Fifteen-year contracts expiring Sept. 30, 2007, are not eligible for extension.  CRP information from USDA

 

Resources:
Save fertilizer input costs: Calculate your nitrogen fertilizer needs with USDA's on-line estimator tool.

Soybean Rust -
Prevention, tracking, fighting this fungus on soybean crops.
USDA Soybean Rust website

Agricultural Glossary - University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture - javascript window opening from the website of www.NationalAgLawCenter.org
direct link to glossary


Glossary of farm bill terms by USDA's Economic Research Service

24-Hour Service for checking application status, and verify USDA information about your operation. USDA's Customer Statement

Complete most forms on USDA's E-file site.

Farm Bill answers for producers - continually updated on USDA's web site.

Disaster help for producers - calculating crop loss payments, new USDA information

Disaster Declarations -
Details available to state and county level

Crop Insurance Checklist - Committee examines continued challenges of providing producer coverage: more details

Conservation program details - full listing on USDA web site

Country of Origin Labeling "COOL" implementation by USDA

USDA posts county loan rates for crops