GLICKMAN SENDS LEGISLATION TO CONGRESS TO HELP FARMERS
                                            Release No 0145.00 
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                            Mary Beth Schultheis (202) 720-4623
                                        mary_beth.schultheis@usda.gov

GLICKMAN SENDS LEGISLATION TO CONGRESS TO HELP FARMERS
     
     WASHINGTON, May 4, 2000   Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has sent
Congress legislation to enact President Clinton's $11.5 billion plan to
significantly strengthen the farm safety net for American farmers and
ranchers.

     "President Clinton and I have repeatedly warned that the 1996 Farm Bill
offers an inadequate safety net for farmers,"  Glickman said.  "Now two years
of low commodity prices, natural disasters and nearly $15 billion in off-
budget emergency relief for farmers have shined a glaring light on the
inadequacies of the safety net provisions of the '96 legislation."

     Glickman added that the agriculture community rightfully expected that
Congress would finally see the need to retool the farm bill and provide for a
long-term safety net, but since that has not happened yet, Congress should
enact Farm Bill changes to provide counter cyclical payments that increase
when times get tough and decrease when the farm economy rebounds.

     "This legislation would enhance farm income, increase environmental
protections, expand crop insurance and expand economic opportunity in rural
America," said Glickman. 

     The President's proposal, unveiled earlier this year, includes 

          Supplemental income assistance payments to eligible farmers, when their
     gross income for a crop falls below 92 percent of their preceding five-
     year average.  The dairy price support program is also extended to 2002.

          A new $600 million Conservation Security Program to provide annual
     stewardship payments to farmers and ranchers who implement sound
     conservation practices.  An expansion of the Conservation Reserve
     Program acreage cap to 40 million acres; sets the Wetland Reserve
     Program's annual enrollment cap at 250,000 acres; increases funding for
     the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to $325 million annually;
     reauthorizes the Farmland Protection Program at $65 million annually;
     and provides $50 million annually to reauthorize the Wildlife Habitat
     incentives Program.
                                
          Provisions for reforming the crop insurance program by significantly
     discounting farmers' premiums, addressing losses that occur in multiple
     years, establishing a pilot program for livestock, providing additional
     funding for research and development, modifying the area-wide trigger on
     non-insured assistance payments, and requiring crop insurance coverage
     for participation in other programs.
                                
          Expands economic opportunities by providing for annual funding of $15
     million, through FY 2008, for the rural communities that the
     Administration had previously designated as empowerment zones and
     enterprise communities.  
                              
          Proposes using $80 million in FY 2001 and $50 million in FY 2002 to
     provide capital equity for new livestock and other processing
     cooperatives.       
                                
     This major new two-year initiative will significantly strengthen the
farm safety net and broaden Federal support to more producers of more
commodities in more areas of the country.   In addition, new initiatives are
being taken under current authorities to maintain maximum marketing assistance
loan rates, provide farm storage facility loans, make incentive payments for
bioenergy production, and for enrollment of land in the Conservation Reserve
Program continuous sign-up.  In total, it will provide more than $11.5 billion
in greatly needed additional assistance to the rural economy.