SAN ANGELO With the farm bill approved by Congress and awaiting President Bush’s signature, Texas Cooperative Extension is planning a program in San Angelo that examines the expected impacts of this legislation.
Set for 9 a.m. May 17 in the Texas A&M University Research and Extension Center’s auditorium, the meeting is designed to help producers and ag lenders better understand the implications of the proposed farm bill.
“Basically, what we’ve done over the last several months is speculate on what the new farm bill would contain and what the many changes would mean to producers,” said Dr. Jason Johnson, Extension economist.
“Now we have the details of the bill in place. We’ve designed this program specifically to help producers and lenders understand the effects of the farm bill on the agricultural-economic climate of West Texas and what producers need do to take full advantage of the farm policy provisions.”
The farm bill was passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday after winning approval from the U.S. House on May 2. President Bush had said before the Senate vote that he would sign the legislation.
Conducting the program will be Dr. Joe Outlaw, an Extension economist with the Agricultural Food and Policy Center at Texas A&M University in College Station. Outlaw has been monitoring congressional debate on the legislation and is coordinating a farm bill educational program for producers.
A general overview of the farm bill and its program and crop commodity changes will be followed by an explanation of the target prices, loan rates, fixed payment rates, and other aspects of the bill.
“We’ll also talk about the farm bill’s considerable conservation-related program changes and what producers need to do to speed up the processes associated with these changes,” Johnson said.
For further information, contact Johnson at (915) 653-4576.
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