The American Soybean Association (ASA) today hailed enactment of the "Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008," which will provide security and assurance for key U.S. farm, conservation, biofuels, and nutrition policies over the next five years. “ASA worked hard to improve the safety net for U.S. soybean farmers in the 2008 Farm Bill,” said John Hoffman, a soybean producer from Waterloo, Iowa. “We applaud Congress for bringing this long legislative process to an end so farmers can proceed with confidence and certainty as they provide the Nation with an abundant supply of food while helping reduce our dependence on imported petroleum.”

Hoffman's remarks followed successful votes in both the House and the Senate to override President Bush’s veto of the omnibus Farm Bill on Wednesday. The vote in the House was 316 to 108, and in the Senate, 82-13. Due to a clerical error, the legislation did not include the Trade Title, which will reportedly be considered as a separate bill after the Memorial Day recess, which begins today. Trade and food assistance programs will not be interrupted, and enactment of this last section of the Farm Bill is expected in early June.

“The 2008 Farm Bill includes key ASA priorities that will provide a more effective safety net for soybean producers and support development of the U.S. biodiesel industry,” the ASA President stated. “ASA is pleased that the new legislation increases the soybean target price to $6.00 per bushel, and authorizes a new Quality Incentive Program to promote production of soybeans with high stability oil that can replace trans fats in food products.”

The new Farm Bill also includes the extension of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Bioenergy Program, which was another of ASA’s top priorities. This program provides support to biodiesel and other advanced biofuels producers, and will help to make domestically-produced biodiesel competitive with petroleum-based diesel and foreign biodiesel imports. Congress provided $300 million in mandatory funding for this important program over the next four years. The Farm Bill also reauthorizes the Biodiesel Education Program, and provides $1 million per year over the five-year life of the bill. This program supports increased fuel quality measures and increases acceptance of biodiesel by engine and equipment manufacturers, petroleum partners, and the general public.

The legislation also includes ASA-supported provisions to reduce the acres of productive farmland currently idled in the Conservation Reserve Program by reducing the ceiling on the CRP to 32 million acres. This will allow land to return to production to help meet with the world’s ever-increasing demand for food, feed, and fuel.

“ASA also supported development and enactment of the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program in the Farm Bill,” Hoffman stated. “This alternative to the traditional ‘three-legged stool’ of farm programs will compensate producers when both state and farm income fall below revenue targets based on recent average national prices and state yields.” The ASA President added that “ASA conducted the initial analysis on the benefits of using revenue rather than price as a basis for a farm income safety net, and we consistently supported the development of the ACRE program, provided that it was offered as an option and it did not reduce funding for other priorities.” Hoffman concluded that “the revenue guarantee under ACRE for soybean farmers could be significantly higher than income support provided by the current program, particularly in the early years of the farm bill. Participation in this program option among soybean producers could be quite high in some parts of the country when it is made available starting in 2009.”