WASHINGTON -- With a congressional vote expected in May, sides are rallying both for and against the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement. After much commentary recently from the anti-CAFTA segment, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns seemed to score points for the proposal on Monday with a press briefing and teleconference touting the support of a reported 55 plus agricultural organizations.

"Today you are making a very clear statement. The statement is, CAFTA is good for America's farmers, it is good for America's ranchers, and it's good for the entire American economy -- and we are going to fight to get it approved," he said.

Organizations speaking on behalf of CAFTA included, among others, the National Pork Producers Council, National Corn Growers Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Milk Producers Federation, and the National Food Products Association.

The agreement -- backed by the Bush administration and negotiated last year with Costa Rico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic -- seeks to eliminate tariffs and open markets.

"CAFTA-DR is a home run for American agriculture," said Don Buhl, president of the National Pork Producers Council. "We are giving up very little to gain very much."

Buhl said more than 99 percent of food and ag products imported from the six countries enter the United States duty-free while U.S. exports to those countries face tariffs of an average 11 percent, with some as high as exceeding 150 percent.

"The result is that we have an agriculture trade deficit with these six nations," he said. "In 2004, U.S. imports from these countries exceeded our exports to the region by over three-quarters of a billion dollars."

NCBA Vice President John Queen said CAFTA will provide opportunity for high-quality U.S. beef.

NMPF Chairman Charles Beckendorf echoed that, saying, "CAFTA will open up new markets and opportunities for dairy products in this very important region."

Former California Congressman Cal Dooley, president of Food Products Association (formerly Food Processors Association), said American agriculture is giving up very little in the agreement and gaining a lot.

Not buying it

Others, however -- including the American Sugar Alliance, National Farmers Union, cattlemen's group R-CALF USA, Americans for Fair Trade, and congressmen -- would disagree.

"So-called free trade agreements (such as NAFTA) are clearly not delivering as expected for America's farmers, and moving forward with CAFTA would clearly mean more of the same," said Representative Collin Peterson, D-Minn., ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, following the teleconference.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that U.S. farmers are on the losing end of these trade deals. Exports are flat, and imports are rapidly growing," he said. "The saddest part is that our trade negotiators keep making the same mistakes in agreements like CAFTA."

Ernest Baynard, executive director of Americans for Fair Trade, said the administration and CAFTA supporters are scrambling to shore up support from American farmers -- a group that's increasingly growing skeptical of trade agreements. He said the media briefing was held to give the impression that CAFTA is backed by U.S. agriculture.

Baynard highlighted what he called some of the briefing's glaring omissions.

"Where was Sen. Saxby Chambliss?" Baynard asked, referring to the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "He wasn't there because he opposes CAFTA -- something that's unprecedented."

Senator Chambliss, R-Ga., is not alone in his opposition. Senators Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., have formed the CAFTA Action Caucus, which will lead Senate opposition to the trade deal, he said. Senators Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii are among the first to join the newly formed caucus.

"Where was the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture?" Baynard continued. "They weren't there because the nation's agriculture commissioners recently passed a resolution opposing CAFTA."

Other "glaring omissions" Baynard noted were: several state Farm Bureaus that oppose CAFTA; the National Farmers Union, which represents more than 250,000 farmers and ranchers from coast to coast; R-CALF, a group comprised of 12,000 cattlemen from 46 states; the Idaho and North Dakota State Legislatures, both of which passed resolutions opposing CAFTA; the country's textile industry that is adamantly opposed to the trade pact; and America's 146,000 sugar farmers and workers.

Sugar-coating?

Sugar growers contend opening the domestic market to DR-CAFTA countries would oversupply the market to their detriment and would set a dangerous precedent for other trade deals.

With no opposition in the room, Johanns handily fielded a question on the issue saying the impact on sugar would be minimal.

"Our sugar industry in the United States is very regulated. There's a cushion in the total regulation of quotas. CAFTA is well within that cushion," he said.

"It's just an impression that the entire sugar industry across the United States is opposed to CAFTA. Important pieces of the sugar industry are supportive of CAFTA. They see this as pretty important to their future," he said, declining to name that segment of the industry.

U.S. Ambassador Allen Johnson said the United States can't afford to get "stuck standing on the sidelines" while other countries enter into trade agreements.

"It's about the United States' place in the world," he said. The United States need to be "reaching out and supporting regional partnerships. We can lead the world."

Rep. Peterson takes another position.

"Don't believe all the hype -- there is very little for (U.S.) agriculture to gain with CAFTA," he said.

Baynard contends the so-called ag support is misrepresented.

"The message is clear: CAFTA is not supported by U.S. agriculture, in fact, there's unprecedented opposition to this agreement," he said. "If you look at CAFTA supporters that claim to represent agriculture, you'll see that an overwhelming majority of them represent huge agribusinesses, not everyday farmers."

Dooley, however, said, "We cannot allow the most competitive farmers in this country not to participate (in trade) because some are not willing to compete. Some, selfishly, put forth that agriculture is not (united) on this."

Peterson contests that position.

"I have never seen so much opposition to a trade deal," he said. "Farmers are smart, and they know when someone's trying to pull the wool over their eyes."

Johanns, however, said U.S. agriculture is seeing records in farm income, farmer's equity, ag exports and production of key commodities.

"There is no doubt that trade is a major reason for this success, and there is even less doubt that for our success to continue into the future we must do everything we can to market and sell our products to the rest of the world," he said. "Under CAFTA with those markets opened on a fair and an equitable basis, we could well double U.S. export sales ($1.8 billion in 2004) to these countries. CAFTA-DR nations have a total population of 44 million. It is a great market for our products."

Baynard doesn't buy those successes.

"If our government officials would spend more time talking to farmers, they'd see that our country's growers are rightly worried about the fact that for the first time in more than 40 years the U.S. agriculture trade surplus will be zero."

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