The U.S. House Agriculture Committee recently released its
proposed version for a new farm bill. Though far from final, this
version could benefit some Georgia cotton farmers, says a
University of Georgia expert.

“Overall, this version is a pretty generous bill right now,” said
Don Shurley, an Extension Service economist with the UGA College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The farm bill is dull stuff for most people, but for many in the
state, it’s important news. More than 2,000 cotton-related
businesses provide about 33,000 jobs in Georgia.

Cotton contributes more than $3 billion a year to the state’s
economy. And Georgia farmers planted about 1.6 million acres of
cotton this year.

The Benefits

Under the proposed farm bill, farmers can become eligible for
more benefits, Shurley said.

For starters, they can update their base acreage (historically,
the number of acres they plant). This acreage is used to
calculate program benefits to farmers.

This is particularly good for some Georgia farmers. Base acreage
was last updated using average acres planted for 1993, ’94 and
’95. Many Georgia farmers weren’t growing as much cotton then as
they are now. The current base acreage would be based on land
planted from 1998-2001.

The Prices

Cotton is selling now for less than 40 cents a pound. This is
well below the cost of growing the crop for Georgia farmers. The
House version maintains some current provisions for cotton and
allows growers to become eligible for new payments that counter
low prices, Shurley said.

Overall, the proposed farm bill would cost about $193 billion
over 10 years.

“Some spending may have to come down. Some changes may have to be
made with the House version or any other version to comply with
trade restrictions, too,” Shurley said.

Time is crucial, he said, because the House version is set to
begin with the 2002 crop.

The Process

A final farm bill still has to jump through the Washington hoops.
The full House must act on the ag committee’s proposal. Then the
House version will go to the Senate.

The Senate may vote on the House version or decide to draft its
own version. If this happens, both proposals will have to be
compromised.

Once final legislation is approved, the president must then sign
it, Shurley said.