MoreThe Bush Administration is pushing more than 65 new proposals as part of this year’s farm bill. The proposals focus heavily on specialty crops, beginning farmers and ranchers, and socially disadvantaged producers.
Mixed reviews for Farm Bill
It would spend approximately $10 billion less than the 2002 farm bill spent over the past five, upholding Bush’s plan to eliminate the deficit in five years.
Industry reaction has been mixed. Cal Dooley, CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers/Food Products Association called it a positive step toward a more market-oriented farm program.
“While not the giant stride we were hoping for, it is clearly a step in the right direction,” Dooley said. “The bill’s proposals would help reduce market distorting trade subsidies and serves to demonstrate the administration’s commitment to advocating agricultural policies that can hopefully lead to a successful completion of the Doha round of trade talks.”
The International Dairy Foods Association expressed “deep disappointment” in the Farm Bill proposals, criticizing the decision to maintain the Dairy Price Support Program and the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program which it called “a poorly conceived, regionally divisive payment program linked to price and production.”
“The administration’s proposal keeps dairy policies stuck in the 1930s and ’40s,” said Chip Kunde, IDFA senior vice president. “While boldly suggesting a new, healthier direction for other commodities, the administration’s plan fails to do so for dairy.”
The Food Defense Strategy Exchange (FDSE) is a forum for food defense professionals to interact and share their knowledge and experiences. At the most recent FDSE, a poll of attendees revealed that approximately two-thirds were either re-evaluating their existing food defense plan, or implementing new food defense plans. In this podcast, Don Hsieh, Director of Commercial and Industrial Marketing at Tyco Integrated Security, discusses this topic and other findings from the exchange, and offers some best practices to proactively protect a company’s brand from food adulteration.
With access to over one million professionals and more than 60 industry-specific publications,
