News Briefs

Base Payments Reinstated
Owners and operators of peanut farms with a base of 10 acres or less can receive payments for the 2008 direct and counter-cyclical payment program. After producers voiced their opposition to the timing of the change, the 10-acre base payment was reinstated for one year so that farm acreage could be reconfigured.

Payments to farms with 10 acres or less were eliminated in the 2008 Farm Bill as a means to save money. However, this did not allow producers ample time to reconstitute the small base into other acreage, if available. President Bush, in signing the new bill of amendments to the 2008 Farm Bill, restored the 10-acre base rule.

Chambliss Wins Runoff Race
In a hotly contested race, U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia was re-elected to a second term, winning the December run-off election against democratic opponent, Jim Martin. Chambliss won by a margin of 57.4 percent to 42.6 percent.

The win by Chambliss dashed Democrat’s hopes of having a 60-seat majority in the Senate, which could have prevented filibusters. Almost all farm groups in Georgia endorsed Chambliss because of his leadership on the Farm Bill, his having served as chairman of the Senate Ag Committee and his current position as ranking Republican on the Senate Ag Committee.