2015: A Year in Review with Farm Policy Facts
From continued attacks on the farm safety net in Washington to a sour farm economy, Farm Policy Facts takes a look at the top agriculture stories of 2015.
Video Aims to Combat Misrepresentations of Farm Policy
The National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) recently released a new educational video to illustrate how Americans benefit from crop insurance and to push back on the tactics of farm policy opponents who try to misrepresent the facts surrounding crop insurance and other important facets of U.S. farm policy.
Pressure Builds for USDA to Act to Help U.S. Cotton Farmers
In the midst of dire economic conditions, U.S. cotton farmers can find encouragement from a growing chorus of support for a proposal to help mitigate their current financial struggles.
Farmers Contend with Sour Farm Economy, Weak Exports and Ag Policy Critics
To be clear, farmers aren’t asking for a headline or a pat on the back. They’re asking for a fair shake when disasters strike and the ability to compete on a global stage. Honestly, it’s the least we can do for the folks who provide the nation with food and fiber.
#ICYMI: Insurance on crops boosts farms of all sizes
Now is the time to protect the one thing beginning farmers and their bankers can count on.
#ICYMI: Crop Insurance Helps Farmers and Ag Lenders Manage Risk
It is a fact that strong farm policy and support for crop insurance goes beyond the farmer, not only benefitting rural America but consumers as well.
Strong Ag Sector is Critical for National Defense
As President George W. Bush once said, “A nation that can feed its people is a nation more secure.” But, the reality is, the more we chip away at the investment in our national food and fiber supply, the more vulnerable we become.
ICYMI: History Demonstrates the Importance of a Farm Safety Net
If my family had kept the farm, I would have been a fourth-generation farmer of a grain operation. But they couldn’t.
Rural America Reminds Lawmakers to Keep Their Promise to Protect Crop Insurance from Cuts in Spending Bill
“It ain’t over till it’s over,” said the great Yogi Berra. He was referring to the New York Mets’ season in 1973, but the sentiment could easily describe the fight to stave off cuts to federal crop insurance this year.
Don’t Keep Farmers Waiting on Tax Certainty
Rather than stack the deck against agriculture, let’s ensure farmers and ranchers have the tools they need to feed the world.
ICYMI: Don’t Squeeze Farmers to Balance the Budget
The United States should stop trying to balance its budget on the backs of farmers. It is bad policy, and there’s no room for further reductions.
Our View: An Attack On One Farmer’s Policy Is An Attack Upon All
The Farm Bill is needed now more than ever, and no thinly veiled plot by anti-farmer forces to pry open the Farm Bill is acceptable. An attack on one farmer’s policy is an attack upon all as far as we are concerned.
ICYMI: ‘Agriculture, as whole, rose up and said enough is enough’
“Agriculture, as a whole, rose up and said enough is enough,” said Steve Verett, the Executive Vice President of the Plains Cotton Growers.
ICYMI: How the budget deal harms farmers, costs jobs and kills crop insurance
As Congress prepares to vote on a budget agreement that includes cuts to a key component of the farm safety net, Larry Combest, the former chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and the Select Committee on Intelligence, makes clear to lawmakers what is at stake if it comes to pass.
Our View: Farmers Deserve Better
Without any consultation with America’s farmers, or apparently even elected leaders from rural America, a handful of lawmakers fast-tracked a new budget proposal that would decimate crop insurance.
U.S. Farm Policy Helps Farmers Fight Bad Actors on the World Stage
The full-scale reality of what American farmers are up against when it comes to competing with foreign treasuries rather than foreign farmers was the topic of a hearing at the House Committee on Agriculture this week.
Texas Conservation Project Helps Farmers Manage Finite Water Resources
“2011 was a game changer. It altered the lives of all of us in production agriculture,” explained Rick Kellison, the project director of the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation (TAWC), during a farm tour near Lubbock, Texas where the Southwest Council of Agribusiness (SWCA) convened its annual meeting last week.
Ag Outlook Underscores Importance of Capital, Strong Farm Policy
The next few years very well may be defining for the future outlook of agriculture. And the whole world has a lot riding on the outcome.
Rep. Benishek: Farms are the Backbone of our Economy & Country
Protecting our farms is good economic policy and it is critical to the health and safety of our nation. As the proud representative of the First District of Michigan, I will do everything I can to ensure that my farmers have a voice in the decisions made in Washington.
U.S. Crop Insurance Gets International Spotlight
The importance of crop insurance to meet the needs of a growing world population took center stage this week in Kansas City as agricultural leaders from more than 30 countries gathered for the International Association of Agricultural Production Insurers (AIAG) to learn more about the American system.
#ICYMI: Crop Insurance Literally Saved My Mississippi Farm
As a fourth generation Mississippi farmer, I grew up knowing that I worked in a field full of risks. When the weather cooperates, prices dive. When prices are great, foreign markets collapse, sending prices into a sudden nosedive. It’s always something. However, it wasn’t until I actually set out on my own in farming in 2011 that I fully understood just how financially exposed farmers are when they put a crop in the ground.
Foreign Ag Support Programs Put American Farmers at a Competitive Disadvantage
American wheat farmers lose close to $1 billion in revenue each year because certain countries are violating trade rules under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, according to a new study.
American Farm Families Expected to Lose Half their Farm Income this Year
USDA forecasts that when all is said and done, American farmers will have a combined farm income that is less than half of what it was just two years ago. This alone is staggering. But it may well mark just the beginning of a depressed farm economy the effects of which may very well adversely impact the entire sector and cascade across other sectors of our economy.
Our View: Heritage Action is Out of Step
It’s bizarre that groups claiming to carry President Reagan’s mantel, such as Heritage Action, have targeted U.S. farm policy for elimination.
Libertarian Think Tank Continues Clueless Farm Policy Critique
“Heritage Action and groups like it had better get serious because they are losing credibility fast and they are damaging the conservative cause.”
#ICYMI: Cuts to the Farm Safety Net Jeopardize a National Asset
If ever we lose the hard-working independent family farms that take care of the nation’s landscape while producing a diverse set of crops more reliably and efficiently than any farm sector in history, then, and only then will we truly understand the value they provide.
After Reforms, EU Sugar Farmers to Get $665 Million a Year in Direct Payments
Nearly a decade ago, the World Trade Organization found the European Union guilty of violating trade rules. Since that ruling, the EU has implemented radical changes to its sugar policy. But, will those changes help further free trade and lead to a subsidy-free system as some in the EU are claiming?
#ICYMI: Political Attacks Endanger Farmers’ No. 1 Risk-Management Tool
Whether you’re a peach grower in South Carolina like me or a corn farmer in Iowa or a cherry grower in Michigan or a cotton farmer in Texas, crop insurance is designed to cover you when disasters strike. And the more farmers buying policies, the better we all are in the long run because that spreads the risk.
Crop Insurance Critic Plans Biased Research Project
“The group claims it wants to measure farmers’ attitudes on crop insurance, but instead of asking unprejudiced questions, it simply requests farmers to back its inaccurate representation of crop insurance.”
Our View: Appropriators Shouldn’t Pry Open 2014 Farm Bill
Lawmakers should oppose any effort to undermine the farm safety net for any crop during the appropriations process. Congress has already held this debate, and rural Americans have made long-term business decisions based on the bill approved in 2014. To introduce uncertainty into the marketplace so soon thereafter would simply be irresponsible.
#ICYMI: Fight Foreign Subsidies, Don’t Unilaterally Disarm
Unilateral disarmament will do nothing to help U.S. consumers or a U.S. economy that depends on a thriving agricultural sector. It will only reward China and other bad actors, while leaving hardworking American farmers powerless the next time storm clouds gather.
Our View: A Timely Reminder To Stick Together
We cannot afford any animosity within our own ranks. It is fodder for our foes. It is an excuse for policymakers to cut up what remains of the farm safety net. It is a deterrent for recruiting the next generation of leaders on Capitol Hill and beyond.
Farm Policy Makes Good Economic Sense
Despite what farm policy critics would have you believe, farm policy is anything but a handout for farmers. In fact, newly released data from the National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) demonstrates that farmers are taking care of their own and in the process reducing the cost to the federal government.
Rep. Peterson: Standing Up for Crop Insurance
Crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm bill’s safety net and our job now is to make sure we don’t do anything to mess it up.
#ICYMI: Crop Insurance helps farmers survive unpredictable weather
This recent headline says it all. The diversity of American agricultural production coupled with the varied growing conditions across the country and the swings in weather explains why farmers need a safety net. More importantly, it describes why crop insurance is the centerpiece of the farm safety net.
Un-Thai-ing The Global Sugar Subsidy Mess
And a new study commissioned by U.S. sugar producers sheds light on the intricate web of Thai subsidies.
Our View: Fight Foreign Subsidies, Don’t Unilaterally Disarm
Farmers face a lot of risks the rest of us don’t. And given the capital requirements of farming today, each of these risks has big financial consequences.
FPF Fact Check: WSJ Editorial Doesn’t Pass the Commonsense Test
The headline in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial read: “Paying for ethanol at the pump and on the plate.” It caught our eye for the fact that it doesn’t even pass the commonsense test. Gas prices are way down and projected to stay that way. So, too, are corn prices.
#ICYMI: No Crop Insurance Would Mean No Food
A financially healthy rural economy requires a financially healthy farm production sector. And that sector relies on a safety net when catastrophic events happen. It is a modest investment considering the return, which is a stable and affordable national food and fiber supply.
Our View: Cultivating the Next Generation of Farmers
We have a strong foundation for cultivating the next generation of farmers in the 2014 Farm Bill, but the law needs to be fully implemented for any of this to matter. Although it is on the books for five years, it is likely to be under attack during the annual appropriations process.