Forest Management Offsets - Key To Climate Change Bil

US Secretrary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's acceptance and promotion of the ACES carbon trading plan for farmers was presented this week. The underlying key to this being a help to American farmers is a plan called "forest management offsets". In fact, over 3/4 of the "offsets" that are being calculated to offset the higher costs of farming (long-term net income decreases of 7.2%) is attributed to "forest management offsets".

So, what is "forest management offsets"? In simple terms it is growing trees where farms once existed and getting paid for it. Sounds good -- if you don't pay for your feed. Because in Vilsack's plan over 40 million acres and pastures of prime farm production land would be taken away to grow trees to get carbon credits. This would artificially drive up corn and feed crop prices.

But seriously, the reality is that these "forest management offsets" will simply not materialize. And farmers will not recover the 7.2% long term net income decrease.
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Thanks, But I'd Rather Keep My 7.2 Percent

Thankfully the USDA has got my back on this new Climate Bill legislation. The word today from their analysts is that long term, my income will only go down by a "minimal" 7.2%. Whew! Man, I was worried it might be something like 10%. I can sleep a lot easier now knowing that my losses are so minimal.

Oh, wait - 7.2% of my income is close to 10%. And, since that's long term, with inflation rising at approximately 3-6% per year, it will probably feel a little bit more like 10-15% in real dollars. Now, I'm not real good at math, but what in the heck is "minimal" about my income going down 10%?
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Food Safety Laws Must Consider Farm Impact

Americans deserve good, wholesome food and they deserve to know that the food they eat is safe. That's why I believe in food safety. But I also believe that before our elected leaders pass laws increasing the amount of record keeping required to farm, we need to consider the impact the laws will have on farmers. I mean, let's make sure we have food to be safe with. Driving farmers out of business with more and more regulations will only make prices go up and up. Who wants to pay $20 for a pound of hamburger or $10 for a loaf of bread?
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