Top Democrat to talk to farmers


Vance County farmers will have two chances next week to talk to the U.S. House’s top Democrat on farm issues, as long as they’re willing to do some driving.

The two Democratic congressmen who represent Vance County, G.K. Butterfield in the north and Bob Etheridge in the south, are involved in separate events featuring the ranking Democratic member of the House Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson of Minnesota.

“It’s a great opportunity for North Carolina farmers to talk with someone who can make a difference,” Butterfield said in a news release this week. “Congressman Peterson is someone who understands the challenges farmers face, and he works hard on their behalf.”

Butterfield and Etheridge also serve on the Agriculture Committee, and they recently joined Peterson and the other 18 Democrats on the committee in signing the “Contract With Agriculture,” a commitment to the 2002 Farm Bill and against the proposed agricultural cuts in President Bush’s 2006 budget.

“The president knows that farm program spending accounts for less than one-half of 1 percent of the federal budget and that even if these programs were eliminated completely the savings would not put even a small
dent in the deficit budget,” Peterson said in a statement. “But even though he knows that, the president is proposing cuts that could directly hurt our farmers and send a damaging ripple effect through rural economies.”

Butterfield said the proposed $8.2 billion in cuts to agricultural programs over the next decade, including $1.1 billion in food stamps, would greatly harm farmers and poor residents of Vance and the rest of his eastern North Carolina district.

Peterson will make a dinner appearance with Butterfield at Greene County Middle School in Snow Hill from 6:45 to 8:30 Monday night. The event will include a question-and-answer period. Butterfield’s Weldon office, at 252-538-4123, covers Vance County if you want more information.

Closer to home is the annual Triangle-area Congressional Farmers’ Breakfast at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Etheridge and fellow Democratic Reps. David Price and Brad Miller are the hosts of the session at the Jim Graham Building, and Peterson is the guest speaker.

“It is important that our farm families keep up-to-date on issues from the cuts and taxes imposed on farmers in the president’s budget to the implementation of the tobacco buyout,” Etheridge said in a news release. “I am pleased to have this opportunity to meet with our area’s farmers.”

Like other congressional Democrats, Etheridge has criticized Bush’s 2006 budget and its potential effects on rural areas. He wrote in a commentary on the plan: “The changes it recommends would touch almost every farmer in North Carolina, regardless of commodity.”

Bush wants to cut direct payments for crops such as wheat, soybeans and cotton by 5 percent, and Etheridge said grants to enhance rural development would be cut under the president’s proposal to create one grant program to replace rural community development grants, rural business enterprise grants, community development block grants and other programs.

The cost to attend Tuesday’s breakfast is $8, and you can make reservations through Etheridge’s Raleigh office. Today is the deadline to sign up, but walk-ups have been accommodated in past years. Call 888-262-6202 for more information.