The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Foreign Trade Council sent a letter last week to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees raising serious concern that price-based programs in the farm bill, and particularly the recoupled House PLC program, will invite other countries to initiate WTO cases against the U.S. They cite the Brazil cotton case, in which a WTO panel found cotton support programs to violate U.S. WTO obligations, as a precedent for what could happen if PLC is included in the final farm bill. Their letter includes a link to a comprehensive analysis by the international law firm of White & Case, which provides a thorough explanation of these concerns.

Moving into conference, ASA has consistently argued against tying high and fixed reference (target) prices to current-year planting, as the House PLC program would do, because it could distort planting decisions, production, prices, and trade in years when market prices fall below support levels.  Re-coupling target prices to current year plantings also would make U.S. farm programs more vulnerable to WTO challenges. ASA supports the Senate bill which includes an Adverse Market Program that continues decoupled reference prices and bases support levels on a rolling Olympic average of prices in the previous five years.

Last Friday, AFBF President Bob Stallman called on the Agriculture Committees to approve the House PLC program in Conference. Unfortunately, this stance by AFBF disregards the increased likelihood that soybeans and other U.S. commodities could be on the losing end of WTO cases if the House’s coupled PLC program is adopted.. ASA is asking its members to share the letter and analysis with other farm and commodity organizations in each state, and to urge them to join in weighing in with their Members of Congress to oppose the House PLC program and to support the Senate farm bill.