Florida Farm Bureau thanks lawmakers as 14 of 15 Farm Bill titles become law

(Gainesville, Fla.) – Last week the U.S. House overrode President Bush’s veto of the farm bill, voting 14 of the bill’s 15 titles into law. The house vote was 316 to 108 to override; the Senate voted 81-13 to override. The House and Senate have determined that 14 of the 15 titles are already law, so there will be no short-term extension of the 2002 farm bill. The House and Senate will act in June to fix a clerical error that had caused the President to veto a bill that did not include the trade title.

“We appreciate the members of the Florida delegation who stayed the course and voted for the farm bill and we are calling upon our members to express their appreciation,” Florida Farm Bureau President John L. Hoblick said, adding that the 2008 farm bill is more supportive of Florida agricultural producers than previous farm bills.

Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez were steadfast supporters of the farm bill, and 12 members of the Florida House delegation voted “yea” on the override vote. They are Reps. Allen Boyd, Corrine Brown, Ginny Brown-Waite, Vern Buchanan, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein, Tim Mahoney, Kendrick Meek, Adam Putnam and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

The bill includes a new Specialty Crop Title that provides more than $1 billion for state block grants; Florida will receive the second-largest amount of grant benefits. It increases food stamp and school nutrition programs and includes a fresh fruit and vegetable program for schools that will provide nutritious Florida products to millions of school children. Nutrition programs make up about two-thirds of the spending.

The conservation title increases programs that will help Florida producers protect and conserve natural resources. The bill also increases the sugar loan rate by three-quarters of a cent and will provide for a sugar-to-ethanol program.

The Florida Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general-interest agricultural association with about 140,000 member-families statewide. Headquartered in Gainesville, the Federation is an independent, nonprofit agricultural organization. More information about Florida Farm Bureau is available on the organization’s Web site, http://FloridaFarmBureau.org.