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Dennis
Finch, General Manager of Anderson’s Peanuts, announced that Anderson’s
Peanuts will bring its shelling operations to a halt in early May for an
undetermined period of time.
"We
regret this action because we must lay people off, but our losses are
mounting with every ton of peanuts we shell, and we must stop the
bleeding.
"Because
we harvested an abundant crop last fall, some would believe we have an
oversupply of peanuts," stated Finch, "but too many peanuts are
not the problem. The problem is the failure on the part of USDA to carry
out the law passed by Congress in the 2002 Farm Bill. If USDA was managing
the program as laid out by Congress, peanuts would be moving domestically
and into international markets as well."
Under
Subtitle C (Peanuts), the Secretary of Agriculture shall permit
producers to repay a marketing assistance loan for peanuts at a rate that
is the lesser of the loan rate ($355)
or a rate (national posted price) that the Secretary determines will (1)
minimize potential loan forfeitures, (2) minimize the accumulation of
stocks of peanuts by the Federal Government, (3) minimize the cost
incurred by the Federal Government in storing peanuts and (4) allow
peanuts produced in the United States to be marketed freely and
competitively, both domestically and internationally.
According
to Mr. Finch, USDA is simply ignoring the law, as clearly stated by the
above-listed, four criteria. "There is absolutely no transparency.
The government’s actions seem to be totally budget driven. Most people
in our industry believe forfeitures to the government from the ’05 crop
will be 600-800 thousand tons compared to only 100,000 tons from the ’04
crop. Warehouses needed to accommodate the 2006 peanut crop are going to
be occupied by 2005 crop peanuts. There is going to be a train wreck, and
USDA is the engineer."
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