July 11, 2011 • MID-ATLANTIC COUNTRY FOLKS FARM CHRONICLE • Page 14
The Farm Bill and the budget negotiations by Bob Gray The saga continues over how large the cuts will be in Farm Bill programs as negotiations continue on the extent of budget cuts associated with the pending legislation to raise the U.S. debt ceiling from $14.3 trillion to $15 trillion. Many farm groups feel
that agriculture has been disproportionately singled out for deep cuts which, of course, will clearly effect the debate and development of the Farm Bill next year. Vice President Biden and the bipartisan group of House and Senate members will very likely recommend very deep
cuts to the commodity programs in their recommendations to tie reduced federal spending to an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. Cuts in commodity payments and crop insurance could be as much as $34 billion over the next 10 years — a very significant bite in
farm program spending. And speaking of budget cuts The recently passed FY2012 spending bill for USDA contained some very significant cuts in various programs. The conservation programs took the hardest hit with $1 billion in cuts for
EQIP, the Conservation Stewardship Program, farm and ranch land protection and other similar programs. It was a blood bath for conservation programs. Overall USDA programs took about a 15 percent hit in funding reductions on top of another 14 per-
cent in the Continuing Resolution that was passed back in April to fund USDA for the rest of this fiscal year. The Senate has not yet acted on any of the major 12 appropriations bills. Source: NDFC E-letter, June 30
SEEDWAY acquires Olds Garden Seed HALL, NY — SEEDWAY has purchased the business assets of Olds Garden Seed from Winfield Solutions, effective June 30. Founded in 1888 and located in Madison, WI, Olds Garden Seed supplies smallpackage vegetable and flower seed to retailers and gardeners throughout the Midwest and Great Lakes region. The longstanding and successful Olds Garden Seed brand will be maintained, with inventory, operations and customer service transitioning to SEEDWAY’s Elizabethtown, PA facility. Scott Morgan, Olds Garden Seed Brand Manager, will remain with the organization to lead the brand, as will Chris Coley as customer service lead. In-step with longrange strategic plans, the acquisition enhances SEEDWAY’s business diversity and broadens its position in the smallpackage seed industry while leveraging existing equipment and processing efficiencies.
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