TIFTON, Georgia– The Georgia Peanut Commission met recently with U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., to discuss several priority issues including peanut storage and handling fees for Fiscal Year 2007, the peanut loan repayment rate formula and the upcoming farm bill.

The commission also communicated their concerns with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2007 Farm Bill proposal. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns unveiled the proposal in January which lowers the marketing loan rate for peanuts and eliminates the separate payment limit for peanuts.

Armond Morris, chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission, participated in a listening session with USDA in Tifton, Ga. regarding the farm bill proposal after meeting with Senator Chambliss.

“We are very concerned about the reduction in marketing loan,” Morris says. “With fifteen percent less peanut acres in 2006 and projected twenty-five percent less in 2007, reducing the marketing loan is not a way to keep the peanut industry viable.”

Morris explains at the listening session that the decline in acres has been driven by the fact that USDA has failed to properly administer the peanut program, forcing the industry to build stocks internally that far exceeded the needs for consumption. Yet, Morris says, USDA continues to hold the price of peanuts at an artificial high causing grower premiums to evaporate and acres to begin their slide.

U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said that while he values the Secretary’s recommendations, ultimately it is up to Congress to write comprehensive farm policy. He said that Congress will have the final say and set the final spending limits in the farm bill.

The Administration’s 2007 farm bill proposals would spend approximately $10 billion less than the 2002 farm bill spent over the past five years (excluding ad-hoc disaster assistance), upholding the President’s plan to eliminate the deficit in five years. These proposals would provide approximately $5 billion more than the projected spending if the 2002 farm bill were extended.

The more than 65 proposals correspond to the 2002 farm bill titles with additional special focus areas, including specialty crops, beginning farmers and ranchers, and socially disadvantaged producers. USDA began preparations for the 2007 farm bill in 2005 by conducting 52 Farm Bill Forums across the country. More than 4,000 comments were recorded or collected during forums and via electronic and standard mail. These comments are summarized in 41 theme papers. USDA economists, led by Keith Collins, studied the comments and authored five analysis papers.

The proposals unveiled represent the final phase of a nearly two year process. Each detailed proposal provides information about why a change is needed, the recommended solution, and relevant background information about the impacted program or policy.

The proposals, transcripts and comments are available on the USDA Web site at www.usda.gov/farmbill.