2008 Farmbill

The bill becomes law-but that doesn t mean the battles are over Tonight Reporter Sarah Gustin explains some of the problems still being worked out with the 2008 farmbill Our state Farmers Union is working hard to make sure our producers have the information they need Tom Buis NFU Pres Silence is not a good move you need to express your opinion to policy makers decison makers department of Agriculture your neighbor The North Dakota Famers Union is traveling the state with the National Farmers Union President addressing some of the loopholes in this year s farmbill The program might look good on paper but what happens when producers apply these programs to real life Buis says the new premanent disaster program-better known as SURE-isn t giving producers enough time Tom Buis NFU Pres Number one give producers an adequate sign-up period They have to sign up by Septemeber 16 alot of producers weren t aware of it this is a brand new program Robert Carlson NDFU Pres There is alot of people applying for that in the drought areas and alot of rules remain to be written And I think it is important for us to get the information from Washington out to producers who I think have been pretty frusterated And SURE isn t the only program with problems The new ACRE program isn t even finished and problems are already rising to the surface Tom Buis NFU Pres They are also being asked to sign up for a program and the rules haven t even been written And you know if you are going to want to participate in that progam and many of them are being asked to insure non-insured crops previsouly in order to be eligible That is like saying producer you put your money upfront you sign up for a program that you may or may not qualify for later I think that is backwards Both Buis and Carlson are aiming towards the same goal-make these programs a little more farmer friendly Tom Buis NFU Pres These programs don t have to be complicated they need to be consumer friendly In Bismarck reporting for KX news I am Sarah Gustin Disaster assistance makes up less than 1 percent of the total 2008 farmbill