June 11

Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) have introduced a bill to make farmers eligible for assistance under a federal trade law that compensates workers when they are financially injured by international trade.

The bill would make farmers eligible for assistance when a commodity price declines by more than 20% below the average price of the previous five years and if imports contributed "importantly" to the decline.

Under the law, when imports cause layoffs in manufacturing industries, workers are eligible for compensation, but when imports adversely affect the agriculture sector farmers who lose income receive no compensation, Grassley said.

If both requirements were met in a given year, farmers would receive cash assistance equal to half the difference between the national average price for the year and 80% of the average price of the previous five years multiplied by the amount of product the farmer had produced.

Pork producers would have been eligible for assistance during the last five years under the proposal, said Grassley. USDA estimates show that in 1998, pork producers could have been eligible for about $100 million in assistance.