May 3, 2002

Corn, Sorghum Growers Applaud Farm Bill
The Farm Bill passed by the House of Representatives will help both corn and grain sorghum farmers in Kansas. The Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association and the Kansas Corn Growers Association applauded the House action today. The vote was on the compromise agreement hammered out by the House/Senate conference committee. First District Representative Jerry Moran served on the Farm Bill conference committee.

 “We had one major goal in the farm bill debate—to make the loan rate for grain sorghum equal to the corn loan rate,” according to KGSPA President Greg Shelor, Minneola. “We achieved that in the farm bill, and the equal loan rate will give farmers more flexibility when they are making their planting decisions. We owe our thanks to Representative Moran, who was instrumental in maintaining the equal loan rate.”

KCGA had pushed for a farm bill that provided a stronger safety net for growers that was not offered in the 1996 Farm Bill.

 “There are a lot of positives in this farm bill. We worked for a counter-cyclical program that protects growers when the price for their crop falls below a certain level,” KCGA President Alan Peter, Tribune, said. “The farm bill also boosts conservation spending by 80 percent and has programs to expand the production and use of renewable fuels like ethanol.”

 Kansas Congressmen voting in favor of the farm bill were First District Representative Jerry Moran, Third District Representative Dennis Moore and Fourth District Representative Todd Tiahrt. Second District Representative Jim Ryun voted against the bill.

The Senate is expected to pass the Farm Bill next week. President Bush has indicated that he will sign the bill.

 The Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association represent their grower members in legislative and regulatory issues on the state and national levels. Kansas corn and sorghum growers produced a combined 620 million bushels of feed grains on 7.5 million acres in 2001.

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