Experts analyze the impact of terrorism on Agriculture

Introduction: according to two agricultural economists at Purdue University in Indiana, if the U.S economy weakens further, or if Congress transfers funds to support commodity projects to national security, the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington may affect American agriculture Philip Paarlberg, an expert in international agricultural trade, said the economic disaster to American farmers caused by the terrorist events last week at the world trade center in New York and the Pentagon would be significant "One thing is that the global economy is weak Some people think it's a recession Will this make things worse? Maybe so As for the extent, it is too early to judge New York, after all, is the major financial and commercial center in the world " "The other thing is the federal government spending," paarberg said In order to expand national defense, air strikes or any military operations will cost money The federal budget is tight now, unlike a few years ago, so they have to find the source of the money " Otto Doering, an agricultural policy expert at Purdue, said work on the 2002 Farm Bill would be delayed because Congress focused on protecting American citizens from terrorist attacks Before Tuesday's tragedy, the U.S House of Representatives and Senate were still locked in a stalemate over the terms of the farm bill and its costs "Now that everything has changed in importance, the farm bill has become the least important thing," Doering said The House Committee on agriculture drafted a $75 billion 10-year agriculture bill, which provides substantial subsidies House leaders hope to begin a full debate on the draft this week The Senate has yet to draft a bill, but leaders say they want many agricultural support payments to be limited to reserves Both houses of Congress will have to pass the final bill before the president can sign it into force "Tuesday's events will take a lot of pressure off the Senate to pass a law they don't like," Doering said They can now say that we have a national emergency, and farmers have taken care of it this year We will not pass this Law until 2002 After April 15, we may not have so much money to spend "