Nebraska producers want to see the next federal farm bill address renewable energy issues, but more traditional things like disaster relief and other “safety-net” provisions remain priorities, too, according to a new national survey.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln conducted the survey of farmers in 27 states in conjunction with the Illinois-based Farm Foundation. About 63,000 surveys were distributed, with more than 15,000 useable responses.

UNL agricultural economist Brad Lubben, who coordinated the survey, said producers identified three fundamental policy areas as key goals for the new farm bill: renewable energy, small and beginning farm and ranch opportunities and food security.

The latter two goals have been argued for decades, Lubben noted, while the interest in bioenergy reflects recent growth in that sector.

Lubben coordinated a similar producer survey with the Farm Foundation five years ago before the current farm bill was written.

This year, although farm income is projected to be down in 2006, the outlook is better than in the late 1990s.

It’s possible that bioenergy could spark some new federal spending, Lubben said. “Otherwise, we’re mostly going to be competing with each other” to fund existing ag programs, he said.

Among existing programs, disaster assistance ranks as the highest priority in the survey. That assistance isn’t even a formal part of the farm bill, but its popularity may be a recognition that “we know we have to regularly address disaster concerns, and we need permanent authority to deal with it,“ Lubben said

Crop insurance is also near the top of the list of popular programs.

For commercial-scale producers, the other safety net programs of direct payments, counter-cyclical payments and marketing loans also were ranked highly.

Smaller-scale producers likely saw more benefits from conservation programs and ranked working land conservation programs ahead of commodity programs and behind only disaster assistance.

“The survey results indicated all of the existing farm programs were supported by producers, but it is clear that there are preferences if program cuts and tradeoffs are necessary,” Lubben said.

Other findings in the survey:

— Farmers said they don’t want to see commodity program payments eliminated or reduced, but expressed some support for increased targeting to smaller farms.

— Producers generally support the pursuit of free-trade agreements and would like to eliminate unilateral trade sanctions on food products, such as those in place with Cuba.

— Producers strongly support country-of-origin labeling for some food products, preferring mandatory rules over voluntary guidelines.

— Producers support testing programs for mad cow disease, although they prefer guidelines for voluntary testing by industry over government-mandated testing.

— Producers strongly support programs focused on conservation.

A full copy of the report is available at the Farm Foundation’s Web site, http://www.farmfoundation.org/, or on the publications page of the UNL Department of Agricultural Economics’ Web site, http://www.agecon.unl.edu.

UNL survey measures farm bill interests

 Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska producers want to see the next federal farm bill address renewable energy issues, but more traditional things like disaster relief and other “safety-net” provisions remain priorities, too, according to a new national survey.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln conducted the survey of farmers in 27 states in conjunction with the Illinois-based Farm Foundation.  About 63,000 surveys were distributed, with more than 15,000 useable responses.

UNL agricultural economist Brad Lubben, who coordinated the survey, said producers identified three fundamental policy areas as key goals for the new farm bill: renewable energy, small and beginning farm and ranch opportunities and food security.

The latter two goals have been argued for decades, Lubben noted, while the interest in bioenergy reflects recent growth in that sector.

Lubben coordinated a similar producer survey with the Farm Foundation five years ago before the current farm bill was written.

This year, although farm income is projected to be down in 2006, the outlook is better than in the late 1990s.

It’s possible that bioenergy could spark some new federal spending, Lubben said. “Otherwise, we’re mostly going to be competing with each other” to fund existing ag programs, he said.

Among existing programs, disaster assistance ranks as the highest priority in the survey. That assistance isn’t even a formal part of the farm bill, but its popularity may be a recognition that “we know we have to regularly address disaster concerns, and we need permanent authority to deal with it,“  Lubben said

Crop insurance is also near the top of the list of popular programs.

For commercial-scale producers, the other safety net programs of direct payments, counter-cyclical payments and marketing loans also were ranked highly.

Smaller-scale producers likely saw more benefits from conservation programs and ranked working land conservation programs ahead of commodity programs and behind only disaster assistance.

“The survey results indicated all of the existing farm programs were supported by producers, but it is clear that there are preferences if program cuts and tradeoffs are necessary,” Lubben said.

Other findings in the survey:

— Farmers said they don’t want to see commodity program payments eliminated or reduced, but expressed some support for increased targeting to smaller farms.

— Producers generally support the pursuit of free-trade agreements and would like to eliminate unilateral trade sanctions on food products, such as those in place with Cuba.

— Producers strongly support country-of-origin labeling for some food products, preferring mandatory rules over voluntary guidelines.

— Producers support testing programs for mad cow disease, although they prefer guidelines for voluntary testing by industry over government-mandated testing.

— Producers strongly support programs focused on conservation.

A full copy of the report is available at the Farm Foundation’s Web site, http://www.farmfoundation.org/, or on the publications page of the UNL Department of Agricultural Economics’ Web site, http://www.agecon.unl.edu.