Storage and handling fees are not covered in farm bill legislation for the 2007 peanut crop and that has many farmers worried about how they are going to make ends meet. Farmers have already felt the increase of high fuel and fertilizer costs, says Armond Morris, chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission, and they can't take much more.
"We really need storage and handling fees covered for our farmers this year," Morris says. "Farmers right now just can't afford to pay the costs."
Farmers, buying point operators and shellers joined together in February to bring the storage and handling issue to their congressmen in Washington, D.C. The group met with U.S. Congressmen Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., Jack Kingston, R-Ga., and Allen Boyd, D-Fla., who all serve on the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. Kingston is the Ranking Member of the subcommittee. Congressman Bishop, who represents an area where the majority of peanuts are grown in Georgia, is not going to sit by and let farmers suffer these additional costs this year.
"As you know, the 2002 Farm Bill included peanut storage and handling fees through the 2006 crop year. This year, I have asked my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to include language in the FY 07 Supplemental Appropriations Bill to continue the important peanut storage and handling fees program through 2007 or until the end of the 2002 Farm Bill," Congressman Bishop says. "Handling and storage fees are important to the bottom line of the peanut farmers. We are doing everything we can to ensure that the proper language is included in the supplemental as well as the upcoming farm bill."
Congressman Bishop is serving for the first time on the House Appropriations Committee's Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee. "We are very proud of Congressman Bishop's appointment to the Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee and the efforts he is making for Georgia's peanut producers," Morris says.
Peanut growers are also encouraged to visit www.AmericanPeanuts.co m and write their congressman regarding funding for storage and handling this year. The Georgia Peanut Commission has a sample letter that growers can use when contacting their congressman through the website.
