U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill speaks during a stop at Malta Bend's Mid-Missouri Energy Plant on Thursday, Aug. 30, during a four-day tour of Missouri's farms and agri-businesses. McCaskill said the tour was intended to help her prepare for the 2007 Farm Bill, which is scheduled for debate on the Senate floor this fall. (Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

At her stop in Malta Bend Thursday, Aug. 30 -- part of a four-day tour in preparation for debate on the farm bill in the coming session -- U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said she wanted to hear from "the people living what the farm bill does."

After a brief tour of the plant, a quick speech and a question and answer period from members of the audience, McCaskill took questions from several media representatives present.

Several of the questions focused on the 2007 farm bill, a version of which has already been passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Asked about whether current subsidy programs in place will be eliminated, the senator said although there may be some "tweaking" of who is entitled to receive subsidies, "I don't see any of those subsidies going away."

McCaskill was also asked about Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns' comments that the Bush administration was disappointed with the house version of the 2007 farm bill.

President George Bush previously had issued a threat to veto the bill, because of one of the biggest differences between the president's version of the farm bill and the House passed version -- a $1 million gross income cap for the subsidy program. The president's version calls for a $250,000 gross income cap.

"I don't think that he fully understands that some farms have gotten bigger, not because they wanted to, but because they had to. The overhead costs on a farm today are a far cry from what they were 10 years ago," she said. "The devil is in the details as to how we define big," she said.

McCaskill said she thought Bush had disappointed the farm community.

"He didn't have a lot of luck in the house, even with the Republican members in terms of his feelings about the farm bill. I think he has disappointed the farm community as far as his priorities as a president," she said.

She also said that she doesn't think the president is going to "scare very many senators" from voting in a bill they believe in.

"He's not going to scare them off by threatening a veto," she said. "I think we'll end up with something closer to the house version than the president's version."

McCaskill said she plans to vote the way the Missouri producers and farmers want her to.

"I don't want to disappoint the farm community. I am going to vote the way Missouri farmers and Missouri producers want me to vote on this farm bill," she said. "It will be disappointing if we work hard on the farm bill and the president threatens a veto. I'm going to hope the president does the right thing."

McCaskill was also asked about ethanol production, and the fact that some are starting to complain that it contributes to high corn prices.

McCaskill said ethanol production is essential for the United States' national security.

"I think ethanol is a really important part of the equation. More important than a strong military, more important than our allies across the world, more important is getting out from under the thumb of the middle east in terms of our dependence on foreign oil.

"We have to grow our own fuel and by gosh, I know we can do it. I know we can do it here in mid-Missouri."

She called for a "three-legged stool" of fuel production, including ethanol, soy diesel and cellulosic fuel, which is currently being developed.

"If we have a good blend of those three it will take some of the pressure off the price of corn," she said, saying corn prices are like a pendulum, "It goes a ways and then it moderates."

She said that in the near future, farmers will be "baling corn stalks," and other things once considered a waste product, in order to make fuel from cellulosic sources.

She also said she was most concerned about getting the infrastructure in place so that people can buy ethanol, especially E-85 blend, which works only in specially made vehicles.

"You can't expect people to go to the car dealerships and demand vehicles that run on E-85, if they're not comfortable they can get it on the corner," she said.

McCaskill's group had rented the Missouri Corn Growers E-85 Suburban for the tour and she had said in her earlier comments that they were having problems finding the fuel in some areas.

McCaskill was also asked about trade promotion.

"Most of the senators I know want there to be more open markets for the farmers and I will be working hard pushing us in that direction," she said.

McCaskill also said she was in favor of labeling food products.

"I'm a big believer we need to be labeling our meat so Americans know when they are buying our product," she said. "We have the best, so Americans ought to have chance to buy our meat, even if they have to pay 10 cents more, I think Americans will."

McCaskill was also asked what she had learned from the farmers and agribusiness people she met during her tour.

"They want stability, they want predictability. They don't want a handout, but they sure want to know where they stand," she said, adding, "They don't want us to fool around and not get the farm bill done."

She also said that health insurance is a problem she has heard from many farmers, especially young farmers.

"I don't think we'll get it done before the next president's elected. I hope whoever wins the next presidential election, they make health care reform their number one agenda item and that everyone in congress will come together and find a way to make sure everyone can afford a visit to the doctor."