Unprecedented Support of Farm Bill

May 23, 2008 - Compelling support for the Farm Bill was made known to each member of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives when 1,054 national, regional and state organizations delivered correspondence asking for the vote to override the President's veto. Participants signing the letter were from all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. The American Sheep Industry Association was a signator to this correspondence.

After thanking the House for its 318-106 passage of the conference report and the Senate for its 81-15 passage, they urged members to continue to support the 2008 Farm Bill by voting to override the President's veto.

"Communities across the nation, from urban to rural, have waited too long for this legislation. The Conference Report makes significant farm policy reforms, protects the safety net for all of America's food producers, addresses important infrastructure needs for specialty crops, increases funding to feed our nation's poor and enhances support for important conservation initiatives.

"This is by no means a perfect piece of legislation, and none of our organizations achieved everything we had individually requested. However, it is a carefully balanced compromise of policy priorities that has broad support among organizations representing the nation's agriculture, conservation and nutrition interests.

Our organizations applaud the strong bipartisan leadership demonstrated by Congress in authorizing and approving a strong new five-year Farm Bill. Sound policy and long-term certainty are absolutely essential to everyone served by the Farm Bill and the final Conference Report provides both."

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