Seventeen ag and commodity groups indicated their various positions on the 2007 farm bill before the House Ag Committee this week. A number of organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union, National Cotton Council, and U.S. Rice Industry, indicated support for extending the current farm bill.

Meanwhile, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is advocating a change in farm policy. NCGA is supporting two new programs: the Base Revenue Protection (BRP) and the Revenue Countercyclical Program.

According to NCGA, these programs would work in a "complementary fashion to assist producers when market revenue falls below target levels. BRP provides coverage against declines in farm-level crop-specific net revenue while RCCP builds on this base with protection against declines in revenue measured at the county level, which is similar to Group Risk Income Protection in federal crop insurance."

Additional farm bill hearings will be held this year by the House Ag Committee.
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C., correspondent