Farming and the Presidential Candidates

Where do they stand? Well, I did a little research and here is what I found...

Barak Obama - - -

• Witney Schneidman says Senator Obama favors establishing what is called an Add Value to Agriculture Initiative, which would work with land-grant institutions, private philanthropies and businesses to promote innovation in global food production. The initiative would, among other things, work for improved irrigation methods, seeds and fertilizers for farmers in the developing world.
• Senator Obama states, "I support a robust safety net. This includes traditional farm programs, crop insurance and disaster assistance."
• On biofuels, Senator Barak Obama set a goal of having 60 billion gallons of fuel from biofuels by 2022.
• His health plan would ensure that no one would be turned away from care if they have pre-existing conditions.
• According to David Lazarus, Obama's rural policy director, “...has no intention of tampering with the individual’s rights to bear arms.” And, Lazarus added, Obama’s plan to increase conservation areas would provide more places to hunt.
• Favors increased research funding into alternatives to natural gas in the production of fertilizer.
• Favors infrastructure improvements to the nation's locks and dams used for shipping food commodities.
• James Webster, a representative of Senator Obama, said “Obama looks at local farming and consumption as not pitting commercial industrial agriculture against local farming. We need both,” and predicted that local production would rise, especially with new Farm Bill mandates for specialty crop assistance, organic farming, and conservation.

John McCain - - -

• J. Peter Pham states that, "Senator McCain has not hidden the fact that he opposes farm subsidies."
• Senator McCain, who had previously called the Farm Bill "bloated and flawed", advocated "market-driven risk management" and promised to fundamentally reform the current crop insurance program.
• Friendly to pro-gun groups.
• Supports eliminating the federal inheritance tax for the first $10 million of property. Now it is $1 million, and many farms and rural businesses exceed that amount.
• Told Field and Stream, and often has said in other venues, that he supports conservation.
• "Favors a risk management program for agriculture that reflects the realities of the global marketplace for food, fuel and fiber in the 21st Century.”
• A central focus of his agricultural policy will be to expand international trade, bringing American products to more foreign markets and boosting the profitability of American farms.
• John Block, a representative of Senator McCain said improving local food sources was “not a big thing to worry about. We need to work on the big issues like keeping costs down. Doing more stuff close to home might help, but the reality is the price of food is going to keep going up.” Block was sanguine about the increases adding, “the market system will make it work.”

Both of them - -

• Agree that the agriculture sector should be involved with environmental regulation.
• Believe that energy production could help save rural America’s economy.
• Favor cap-and-trade plans that may drive up prices for fossil fuels and prompt a shift to lower-carbon sources of energy, such as wind, solar and nuclear.
• Think increased production of domestic natural gas would help ease the pressure because it is used in the production of fertilizer.
• Congress approved a farm bill earlier in 2008 that will expand federal nutrition programs by $10 billion over 10 years. Neither presidential candidate was present for the initial Senate vote or the second vote to override a presidential veto.
• Both representatives of the candidates said that higher costs for energy would mean a greater reliance on local food sources and that was a good thing.

I would like some comments on this, so please consider this your little virtual soap-box to discuss the presidential candidates and their positions on farming, agriculture and sustainability. Speak Up!!!