"Our agriculture community is working overtime right now to recover from the financial challenges of the past two crop years," said Congressman Berry. "It would be cruel to jeopardize this recovery by forcing farmers into a serious debate about the future of farm programs. We owe it to these farmers and the security of our food supply to extend the Farm Bill for one more year before we begin to draft the next comprehensive farm policy."

As an author of the 2002 Farm Bill, Congressman Berry was instrumental in passing a bill that gave farmers the safety net necessary to continue producing the safest and most bountiful food and fiber supply in history. He fought to raise payment limits for farmers, to save market recourse loans above payment limit caps, to protect cotton certificates, to raise payments under the Environment Quality Incentives Program by 60%, and to increase the Conservation Reserve Program to provide farmers with technical and financial assistance to address soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on their lands.

Text of the letter is included below.

July 27, 2006

President George W. Bush

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

The First Congressional district in Arkansas is one of the top farming districts in the entire country, ranking number one in rice production, number four in cotton, and among the top ten for soybeans.  We are proud of our strong farm economy, and our long-standing tradition of providing a safe, and secure food and fiber supply for America's consumers.

With the recent collapse of the Doha Round of WTO trade talks on agriculture, it is even more imperative that we protect our agricultural economy.  This is a difficult time for many of our farm families in Arkansas and across the country.  The combination of severe weather and unprecedented fuel and fertilizer costs has resulted in significant crop and livestock losses for the nation’s agriculture industry.  It is because of this that our farmers need a steady and secure farm policy – not a complete upheaval of the policies upon which they depend in this global marketplace.

The 2002 Farm Bill was a strong bill that addressed most of the concerns facing our domestic producers.  I strongly support extending this bill for a year in order to assess the status of the suspended trade talks and help our nation’s farmers adjust to changes in current policies.

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        MARION BERRY

                                                                        Member of Congress