January 5, 2001

Outgoing Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman Thursday laid down a gauntlet for the income Bush administration on farm policy: instead of focusing on transferring income from the federal government to farmers, he said, concentrate more on an "investment in rural America" designed to improve the quality of life for all rural residents.

"If all we focus on is what the (farm) programs look like," he told farm broadcasters, "we'll lose sight of how to keep rural areas viable. That's part of the challenge for the next administraiton."

Rather than thinking only of loan rates, loan deficiency payments and strictly farm-centered programs, he added, the larger question is "how to protect land base, how to keep people in rural areas." He said he had pushed for greater investment in rural communities with better water and sewer systems, upgrading Internet access for rural residents and better telecommunications in general.

Richard Rominger, Glickman's deputy secretary, said the farm economy depends "so much on the global market" and that market depends on weather around the world. Good weather in major growing areas has produced surpluses of major commodities, lowering prices here and in other countries. "That will play a part in how much the federal government will have to do" to keep farmers in business, he said.

Glickman said Congress and the Bush administration probably won't be able to sustain the amounts of income transfers of recent years. "The 2002 farm bill must improve farm income and not just rely on Treasury checks," he said. Something more and different is needed, he added, be that more aggressive risk management or counter cyclical payments or some other policy direction.

He said he was most proud of the record at USDA under his leadership in the areas of food safety, food assistance overseas, an emphasis on conservation programs and upgrading nutrition and school lunch programs. "Fifty years ago USDA could be exclusively a voice for production agriculture," he said. "Now, given the (farm versus urban) population and the demographics, it's still a critical part but not all of the USDA mission."