Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, at a public meeting on January 31, 2007, described the Administration's 65 recommendations for a new farm bill. In the following pages, Congressional Research Service analysts summarize current policy and programs, describe the USDA recommendations, and pose questions related to the policy, program, and/or budgetary impact of the recommendations. The organization of this report parallels that of the USDA report. This would occur after a new five-year farm bill has expired. The proposal also is included in the Administration's FY2008 budget proposal. Critics are concerned that the Administration may not be asking for a large enough increase in fruit and vegetable purchases and that its farm bill proposals are silent on potential expansion of a small ($15 million) existing fresh fruit and vegetable program operating in some 400 schools located in 14 states and on 3 Indian reservations. Title IX: Energy

Title IX of the 2002 farm bill ( P.L. A 1994 crop insurance act required the purchase of a crop insurance policy as a prerequisite for participating in the farm commodity programs. How does the Department currently determine what proportions of its Section 32 commodity acquisitions go to various domestic nutrition programs, and how would it do so for the proposed increases? Organic Agriculture

The Administration ' s 2007 farm bill proposal recommends considerably more funding for research and marketing programs, to support the continuing growth of the organic farming sector.
On January 31, 2007, the Secretary of Agriculture publicly released a set of recommendations for a 2007 farm bill. The proposal is comprehensive and follows largely the outline of the current 2002 farm bill, which expires this year. It includes proposals regarding commodity support, conservation, trade, nutrition and domestic food assistance, farm credit, rural development, agricultural research, forestry, energy, and such miscellaneous items as crop insurance, organic programs, and Section 32 purchases of fruits and vegetables.
The Administration delivered its report to Congress, not as a bill, but as a possible focus for debate and a foundation for developing legislation. CRS has received many questions about the content of and potential issues related to the Administration proposal. Given the early stage of the debate, this report poses some questions that may contribute to a better understanding of the proposal.
This report contains a brief description of current policy on each topic, a short explanation of the Administration's proposals, and then questions of a policy, program, and/or budgetary nature. In some cases proposals are repeated in more than one title, and where this happens the questions are duplicated.