(Reprinted from The Macon Telegraph of Saturday, March 12, 2005)

Marshall vows to fight ag cuts

By Linda S. Morris
Telegraph Staff Writer

PERRY - U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., told agriculture producers Friday he will fight to restore some of the cuts in the Bush administration's agriculture budget.

A bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would cut $5.2 billion in agriculture funding and a Senate bill proposes a $2.8 billion cut, Marshall said.

The main reason for the difference between the two figures is because House leaders have fewer rural constituents, he said.

"We have much larger representation in the Senate, so it doesn't surprise me that the House is proposing bigger cuts than the Senate," Marshall said.

Marshall called for a meeting at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter to gauge reaction to proposed budget cuts in agricultural programs and to discuss concerns.

He said he would try to save the cuts proposed to agricultural research. At risk is $1.3 million for the Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory in Byron and $747,000 for the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Tifton.

"We are working to get the cuts restored," Marshall said.

Robert Dickey III with Dickey Farms, a peach producer in Musella, said the research money "is very important to my business, for every crop really. States and local (governments) are having to pick up more and more."

Cuts to agriculture are different compared to other industries, said Dooly County farmer Eddie Green, who raises cotton, peanuts and beef cattle in Dooly, Macon and Houston counties.

"We're fairly unique," Green said. "We can't pass along the cuts. We don't have that luxury. We are looking at a 100 percent increase in our fuel costs versus last year. We have cut just about all we can cut."

On another issue, Marshall said the U.S. ban on imported beef from Canada is hurting farmers here. The U.S. border has been closed to Canadian cattle since May 2003, when a Canadian cow tested positive for mad cow disease.

The USDA planned to open the U.S. border to Canadian cattle March 7. But before that date, a U.S. cattlemen's group won a federal court injunction to keep the ban. Shortly afterward, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution to keep the border closed.

Marshall said U.S. officials are trying to convince Japan to accept American beef, but when the United States won't allow Canada to import here, it weakens the U.S.'s stance with Japan.

He supports opening the Canadian border for younger cattle.

"They have not found a problem with cattle 30 months or younger in Canada," Marshall said.

Another issue, he said, is changes in temporary foreign worker legislation which includes having employers provide housing at no cost and to try to employ U.S. workers before hiring foreign workers. Many farmers use foreign laborers, especially during harvest time.

"(The legislation) is so politically contentious," Marshall said. "When you bring it up, people want to talk about immigration."

Prior to the meeting, Bleckley County farmer Delton English said he's hurting financially.

"Everything I buy from fuel to fertilizer is going up, and our prices keep going down," he said.

English has about 450 acres of cotton, 100 acres of hay and about 100 acres in pine trees.

"I don't know what the answer is," English said. "But I think (the North American Free Trade Agreement) and the (Central American Free Trade Agreement) hurt not just farmers but the factories, too.