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USDA OFFICIAL DOWNPLAYS CHINA QUOTA ISSUE
 
WASHINGTON, DC - Strains in trade relations between the US and China, fueled by the recent announcement of new quotas on Chinese textile shipments, will prove to be a relatively "short-term" problem with China continuing to rely heavily on US-grown soybeans and cotton, a US Agriculture Department (USDA) official has said.
 
USDA Undersecretary J.B. Penn told reporters, "We do think the Chinese need soybeans and cotton and we think they will be purchasing those commodities."
 
Penn also noted that China "perhaps" had been interested in buying US wheat before the textile trade announcement was made by the US. 
 
Chinese soybean, cotton and wheat-buying teams canceled visits to the US following the decision by the Bush Administration to impose new textile quotas on China.
 
DISASTER FARM AID BILL PASSES

WASHINGTON, DC - Farm disasters might be managed a bit more efficiently under a bill passed Monday by the House, reports the daily Sacramento Bee. 

In a modest legislative landmark for sponsor Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) of Merced, the House gave a quick thumbs-up to the disaster relief legislation. Instead of money, the measure promises improved cooperation between state and federal officials.

Cardoza described the bill as a potential fix for the kinds of bureaucratic hassles a handful of Merced County farmers faced earlier this year.

"We simply didn't have anyone to coordinate the activities," Cardoza said. "There was no quarterback."

The bill was written by Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, the third-ranking Republican in the House. He tapped Cardoza as the chief co-sponsor.

"He asked me to join on the bill, because he heard I had been grousing about what happened in my district," Cardoza said.

The bill requires the Agriculture Department to establish "disaster liaisons" who will be deployed to federally designated disaster areas. They are supposed to coordinate with state and local counterparts and "facilitate the claims and applications of agricultural producers" who claim harm from the disaster.

"It's always nice to have the right hand know what the left hand is doing," said Diana Westmoreland Pedrozo, executive director of the Merced County Farm Bureau. "Actually, I wish there was more coordination between the state and federal governments before disasters happen."

Although the bill addresses the overall issue of state-federal coordination, it would not have directly affected the specific circumstances Cardoza complained of in Merced County.

He contended the Agriculture Department was too slow to declare Merced County a disaster area after a hailstorm whose primary harm centered on the peach orchard of grower Randy Fiorini.

Cardoza believes a central disaster "quarterback" could have speeded up that decision. The legislation as written, though, kicks in only after an area has been declared a federal disaster. It would thus help farmers obtain aid, but would not help secure the initial disaster declaration.

Federally designated agricultural disasters have become commonplace. By the time Merced County was declared a federal disaster area in September, some 788 of the nation's counties had been designated primary disaster areas. Federal aid is also provided to 518 adjacent counties.

Low-interest loans are the primary benefit of such designation, covering up to 80 percent of a farmer's loss to a maximum of $500,000. In addition, the ad hoc disaster bailout bills favored by Congress funnel direct payments to farmers.

This year, for instance, President Bush signed into law a $3.1 billion agricultural assistance package for growers who lost at least 35% of their crop in 2001 or 2002. This money comes on top of standard crop subsidies, which total upward of $19 billion this year, and was approved despite a perennially renewed congressional vow to move away from ad hoc disaster bailouts.

"For virtually every crop year from 1988 through 2000, Congress has authorized emergency crop disaster payments," the Congressional Research Service noted in a recent report.

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