Byron Dorgan: “I have noticed an amendment dealing with barley and the problem that has come about as a result of the change in the…”

“I have noticed an amendment dealing with barley and the problem that has come about as a result of the change in the payment rate for barley under the Freedom To Farm Act. As some of you might know, those who signed up under freedom to farm to raise barley signed up with the understanding that their original payment under the freedom to farm bill was going to be 46 cents a bushel in 1996. Then they were told later that the calculation under the Freedom To Farm Act was inaccurate and that their payment would be 32 cents. That probably doesn't sound like too much to some, but it is a 30 percent reduction from what the estimate would be and the basis on which they signed up for the program--a 30 percent reduction from that level. It is somewhere around $35 million to $39 million. No State in the country raises more barley than North Dakota, and the folks that go out and plant that barley, and expect to harvest it, did so under the provisions of this farm bill, fully expecting to do so receiving 46 cents a bushel as original payment. Now, I guess the question that I have is whether we can address this issue in this appropriations bill.”