Congressman Pence said that "the success of Farm Flex...is a testament to the principle that all the best American ideas come from America, not Washington, DC."


For more on Farm Flex and Congressman Pence's pivotal role, click below for the stories in their entirety:

Herald Bulletin: "New farm bill frees up tomato growers"

On Tuesday, Red Gold welcomed Pence to its offices in Orestes to thank him for his work regarding Farm Flex, a component of the 2007 Farm Bill that allows people like Ousley to plant fruit and vegetables on certain acreage otherwise slated for contract crop production.

Pence said he faced a tough fight in Washington, D.C., when he tried to get Farm Flex through Congress. Growers in the West and Southeast who produce specialty fruits and vegetables did not want the competition. “They didn’t want to see the rich terrain of Indiana become a competitive force.”

Steve Austin, of Red Gold, said Pence and other representatives made the difference for Indiana agriculture. “They really went to the mat for Hoosier families.”

The 2002 Farm Bill, was not meant to penalize Midwestern growers but Pence said the action was typical of Washington politics. “Washington, D.C., is the world capital of unintended consequences.”

He knew the bill needed to be changed. “Indiana is agriculture,” Pence said.

Star Press: "Farm bill ends squeeze on Red Gold tomato plant"

At a news conference at Red Gold's tomato-processing facility here, employees on Tuesday thanked U.S. Rep. Mike Pence for his role in the legislation.

After passage of the 2002 Farm Bill, which added soybeans to the list of federally subsidized crops that already included corn, "all of a sudden ... we didn't have any acres to grow tomatoes on in Indiana, because 98.5 percent of all good tillable acreage is in the farm program," said Red Gold spokesman Steve Austin. "That froze us..."Without the Farming Flexibility Act we couldn't get enough acres to grow our crops on because we are a non-subsidized commodity."

Because of strong, well-financed opposition, it has taken that long to get the Farming Flexibility Act passed, Reichert said.

According to Pence, opposition primarily came from California and Florida, where non-subsidized, so-called specialty crops like tomatoes are more common. Those regions don't want Indiana to become a competitive force, Pence said.

"I am deeply humbled about the characterization of our work, but the success of the Farming Flexibility Act that I first introduced five years ago is testament to the principle that all the best ideas in American come from America and not from Washington, D.C.," Pence said, crediting Red Gold officials with proposing the legislation.

"With this provision, Indiana farmers will be able to diversify their crops throughout the year without risking penalties and a loss of federal payments for program crops," Pence said.

Red Gold agriculture director Steve Smith said Pence was instrumental in fixing a loophole in the 2002 Farm Bill that negatively affected some farmers in the Midwest. The bill limited the production of fruits and vegetables on federally subsidized land in Indiana. "If it had not gotten changed, the Midwest processing industry would have gone out," Smith said.

Pence met with Indiana agriculture representatives at Red Gold headquarters in Orestes on Tuesday to announce the addition of Farm Flex, a pilot program giving Indiana 9,000 acres of land to plant specialty crops, including fruits and specialty vegetables.

"The credit goes to the people who are in this room and the people in this industry who brought this powerful idea of reform forward," Pence said.

"I long for the day that as I fly back and forth from Washington D.C. that some day, in some parts of the year, I might see as much red as I see green," Pence said. "And that will be good for Indiana farmers, good for Indiana and good for America."

Red Gold Inc. held a press conference today with Congressman Mike Pence, 6th Congressional District (R) of Indiana, to recognize the legislator’s work regarding Farm Flex. "Farm Flex is contained in the new Farm Bill and will allow Indiana tomato growers to plant tomatoes on acres that are normally enrolled in the government commodity program but were prohibited from doing so by the 2002 Farm Bill." said Steve Austin, government affairs at Red Gold. "We are grateful for the work Congressman Pence did on the House side and that of Senator Richard Lugar on the Senate side. They really stood up for Hoosier family farms who grow
tomatoes and other specialty crops that add value to the Indiana economy."

“The whole idea of Farm Flex, the whole idea of changing the new Farm Bill to loosen up the ability to put non-program crops in the ground was an idea originated right here in Eastern Indiana, it was brought to me in Washington, D.C. so the credit really goes to people on the farm, people here at Red Gold for bringing about this major legislative change,” said Congressman Pence.

“Our hope is that as this legislation prescribes, that the Department of Agriculture will monitor this program, they’ll see the benefits for both the farmers as well as to taxpayers, to increase greater flexibility for non-program crops, and that by the time the next Farm Bill comes around, if I’m back on the Agriculture Committee or not, we’ll be fighting for an expansion,” Pence said.

What makes this more interesting, in the end, even though he worked tirelessly on the Farm Flex provision, when votes were cast, Congressman Mike Pence voted against the Farm Bill thus against Farm Flex.

“Farm Flex is the greatest legislative accomplishment I never voted for,” said Pence.

Congressman Pence gave credit to Senator Lugar and other colleagues in Washington and also his Indiana constituency.

“It really is a story that all the best ideas come from American and not Washington D.C. I would love to take credit for this idea, but it most certainly was not my idea. This was Indiana farmers and specialty crop growers who came to be and said we have found a problem in the bill that Congress just passed and we’d like your help fixing it. Then I was able to work with my colleagues on the agriculture committee to move the ball forward. But the key here was this was an idea that came out of farmers in the heartland, and then it was supported in a bipartisan way by leaders at the state and federal level across the Midwest. And that’s how we got it across the finish line.”