National & World Ag News Headlines Rep. Kind Says Senate Farm Bill Continues Brazil Cotton Payout USAgNet - 05/01/2012 Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind is co-sponsoring legislation to put an end to the $147 million in taxpayer dollars going to the Brazilian cotton agribusiness each year. The La Crosse Democrat says his bill simply stops all payments to the Brazilian Cotton Institute, while putting pressure on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to make the necessary reforms to be World Trade Organization compliant. "Failing to reform our own domestic cotton program has resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars unnecessarily subsidizing Brazil's cotton industry," said Rep. Kind. "This has got to stop. It's clear that the Agriculture Committees aren't going to make the commonsense reforms we need to eliminate these payouts--which is why I've authored this bill." Other sponsors of the measure include GOP Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon. "It's absurd that U.S. taxpayers have been on the hook for millions to Brazil cotton farmers for years because of Congress' unwillingness to reform our cotton subsidy programs," said Rep. Flake. "Eliminating this penalty funding will put much-needed pressure on Congress to actually rein in our cotton subsidies so they're WTO-compliant." Blumenauer says rather than continuing to spend millions of taxpayer dollars in this way, American cotton farmers need to get their own house in order. Four years ago, Brazil successfully argued before the WTO that U.S. agriculture subsidies to cotton producers violated WTO agreements. Following the WTO's ruling, instead of reforming the cotton program, when facing retaliatory tariffs and sanctions from Brazil, Congress and the Administration agreed to pay the Brazilian cotton industry $147.3 million a year, which is the amount determined as the losses Brazilians incur as a result of U.S. cotton subsidies. Send this article to a friend Other National Headlines Senate Farm Bill Floor Action Starts Monday Quarterly Midwest Farmland Values Up 15 Percent Research Finds Residual Two-Pass Beneficial in GT Corn USDA Estimates Global Wheat Production to Reach New Record North & South American Corn Growers Form Alliance NDFB Takes Issue with AFBF Crop Insurance Agreement USDA Seeks Apps for Technical Assistance to Rural Businesses Copyright © 2013 - USAgNet.com. All Rights Reserved.