In his final State of the Union Address delivered on January 29, 2008 President Bush outlined his agenda for the final year of his Administration. Even though he did not address many issues affecting agriculture, much of what he had to say lines up with the priority issues outlined in the National Grange’s Blueprint for Rural America 2008. Blueprint 2008 outlines nine major issues that the National Grange believes are critical to building a solid foundation of prosperity for our nation’s family farmers, ranchers, and foresters, as well as our rural communities.

Recognizing that economic woes may loom on the horizon, President Bush touched on the benefits of trade to our economy in his annual address to the nation, saying that today, “…our economic growth increasingly depends on our ability to sell American goods and crops and services all over the world.” Likewise, the Grange’s action plan addresses trade by stating: “We believe that the government should be combating trade distorting practices instituted by foreign governments, such as currency manipulation and unilateral repudiation of sovereign debt, that make it more difficult for U.S. farmers and manufacturers to export their products.”

In expanding upon his economic vision for the nation, President Bush also outlined his energy plan for the coming year. “The United States is committed to strengthening our energy security and confronting global climate change. And the best way to meet these goals is for America to continue leading the way toward the development of cleaner and more energy-efficient technology,” the President told the nation. The Grange’s Blueprint2008 complements the President Bush’s energy policy initiative by stating a goal of generating “…at least 25% of domestic energy needs from renewable resources derived from America’s family farms such as biodiesel, ethanol, biomass, solar and wind energies by January 1, 2025.”

Also important to Grange members this year is the issue of health care. This is another issue of broad agreement between the White House and the Grange. President Bush is committed to improving health care coverage through initiatives also advocated in the Blueprint 2008. In fact, he specifically addressed three of our Blueprint 2008 positions on health care, saying that “…the Congress must also expand health savings accounts, provide for association health plans…and confront the epidemic of junk medical lawsuits.”

And lastly, like President Bush, the Grange would like to see an overhaul of outdated guest worker programs, but remains firmly opposed to granting amnesty to those who are in the country illegally. The Grange Blueprint 2008 recognizes that the government’s first immigration responsibility is to keep the borders secure through the deployment of adequate resources. President Bush acknowledged this responsibility by stating that the federal government will have doubled the number of border patrol agents by the end of this year.

The National Grange’s Blueprint 2008 also demonstrates that the organization remains committed to practical approaches to addressing the issue of illegal immigrants already in the country and assuring the availability to legal guest workers for industries that rely on them, including agriculture. The Grange firmly believes that practical approaches, respect for the rule of law, and dedication to the principals of popular sovereignty, rather than ideological positions, are the best ways of managing complicated problems like immigration reform.

The National Grange recently wrote to Congressional Leaders stating that the goal of the next Farm Bill should be to build a solid foundation of prosperity for America’s family farmers and ranchers. With this in mind, the National Grange urged Congress to appoint the House Conferees in the very near future. “It is imperative to finalize the farm bill legislative process so the agricultural community and related industries can utilize the federal programs to their fullest extent,” Leroy Watson, National Grange Legislative Director stated. National Grange is also asking members to write to their Representatives urging them to finalize the Farm Bill before the March 15, 2008 deadline.

The National Grange also shared a Farm Bill Summary Position Paper with leadership in the House of Representatives. This document encompasses the grass-roots policy recommendations from our organization. We believe this document will be beneficial to Congress as they craft the final version of the Farm Bill legislation over the next several weeks.

The National Grange urged President Bush and Congressional Leaders to consider the diverse needs of rural communities as they promote an economic stimulus package for the United States. The nation’s agriculture community is waiting for Congress to pass, and for the President to sign, a farm bill dictating farm programs for the next five years. This farm bill should be the keystone of the nation’s economic stimulus package.

The farm bill or separate economic stimulus legislation should increase federal spending directly to state governments for agricultural land use preservation and conservation programs on private land. The farm bill must provide funding to states for their farmland preservation programs and reverse the trend of farmland loss. The farm bill or the separate economic stimulus legislation should also provide for a permanent tax credit for farmers who voluntarily participate in the National Animal Identification Program (NAIS). By promoting the NAIS program through tax incentives, we will promote improved food safety.

The farm bill or separate economic stimulus legislation should expand the lending authority for the Farm Credit System to make available loans for rural small businesses and homeowners. Banks and other financial institutions facing a “credit crunch” are not serving many rural areas adequately. By expanding the lending authority of the Farm Credit System, rural communities will have the lending services they need to strengthen their local economy.

Finally, the farm bill or separate economic stimulus legislation must encourage and provide funding for soil and water conservation programs. As our nation promotes domestic renewable energy production, we have to consider all of the environmental impacts. Additional funding for technical assistance to farmers will be necessary as our nation begins to provide domestic energy alternatives such as biodiesel, ethanol, biomass, solar, and wind energy. On a related note, immediate promotion of other domestic energy resources in an environmentally sound manner, such as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Gulf of Mexico, would also stimulate our nation’s economy.  

Health care continues to drain the American economy. The National Grange promotes an immediate change in health care deductions as part of the economic stimulus legislation to allow for an immediate 100% income tax deduction for all costs associated with health insurance, long-term care insurance, medical savings accounts, or medical flexible spending accounts. Self-employed individuals such as farmers should be afforded this tax break.

Eminent domain continues to negatively impact local rural economies across the nation. The final economic stimulus legislation should prohibit any state or federal agency from using or delegating its power of eminent domain for private economic development. Any state or local government that uses or delegates their power of eminent domain for the purpose of private economic development should be ineligible for all federal economic development funds for at least two years. Finally, other issues include rural transportation services, increasing expenditures under the Universal Service Fund, and advanced telecommunication services.

Leroy Watson, Legislative Director for the National Grange, recently wrote a Letter to the Editor responding to a Wall Street Journal article entitled, “Biofuels May Hinder Antiglobal-Warming Efforts,” published on February 8, 2008. In the letter, Mr. Watson chastised the editors of the publication for calling biofuels a net environmental loss when they addressed recent studies regarding greenhouse gasses. Watson pointed out that these studies claim cropland conversion for biofuels could produce more greenhouse gases than traditional petroleum. However, these studies also identified clear research and development paths to avoid these problems and to ensure that future biofuels will give our country new renewable, domestic energy sources that will greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Watson also discussed a recent USDA and University of Nebraska study indicating ethanol derived from switchgrass produced 94% fewer net greenhouse gases than gasoline. Furthermore, he stated that the 2007 Energy Bill has already addressed this issue by including provisions that set tough but achievable lifecycle global warming pollution reduction standards. Watson concluded, “We know demand for liquid fuels continues to increase worldwide, and petroleum resources are both finite and inherently release long sequestered fossil hydrocarbons into the environment. Studies like the ones described in the Wall Street Journal article can help us move forward and make the right decisions, but they should not be used as an excuse to delay or prevent progress.”