Farm Bill Talk Dominates Congressional Recess
August is typically a down time in DC, but that has not been the case this year. Among other things, lots of work was being done on the Farm Bill.
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Our View: Time to Go to Work
Summer is just about over, and Labor Day on the horizon signals that harvest is near. That means, it’s time to go to work. Farmers are watching Washington, D.C. as lawmakers return to finish some important Farm Bill business.
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As Farm Bill Heads to Conference, A Look Back
Following a relatively smooth markup in the Senate Agriculture Committee, the Farm Bill now moves to the Senate floor for consideration, and congressional leaders intend to have debate wrapped up before Independence Day.
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Senate Farm Bill Debate, House Vote on the Horizon
When the Senate overwhelmingly passed its Farm Bill – just days after the House did the same – applause from the agricultural community was swift and loud. The bill, once reconciled in conference, will provide some economic certainty and help mitigate farm risk.
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It’s Still ‘Kinda Flakey’ to Destroy Farm Policy with Anti-Farmer Amendments
When Congressmen Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced an amendment to the Farm Bill in 2007 that would have gutted U.S. farm policy and put American jobs at risk, the outcry from the agricultural community was swift and fierce. A campaign backed by farmers quickly labeled their plan “Kinda Flakey” and highlighted the disastrous effects it would have on commodities and rural communities from coast to coast.
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Our View: They’re Baaaack…and They’re Still Wrong
It’s been a lively Farm Bill season, with a slew of anti-farmer amendments going down in flames. But one of farm policy’s most vocal opponents has been conspicuously quiet…until now. The Environmental Working Group came roaring back this week with a new “study” that – true to form – breaks no new ground and is largely a recycling of old irrelevant data.
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Yet Another Worry in Farm Country
Prices and farm incomes are in the tank. Ongoing international trade talks are affecting overseas markets. Congress is debating a Farm Bill that will determine growers’ ability to mitigate risk. Mother Nature is wreaking havoc across the country – with farmers in the Great Plains facing drought and southern growers getting pounded by rain.
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Our View: 2018 Farm Bill Proves Sunshine is Still the Best Disinfectant
In our view, this kind of open, honest debate beats the sneaky subterfuge of some past farm bill debates where pernicious amendments to gut U.S. farm policy have masqueraded as “reforms” in order to confuse the debate. The Heritage Foundation has made it perfectly clear that it opposes any safety net whatsoever for America’s farmers or ranchers because Heritage denies any unique risks to farming and ranching.
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Our View: If You Support Farmers, Reject Anti-Farmer Amendments
A Farm Policy Facts writer was in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota yesterday, visiting with sugarbeet farmers who are planting this year’s crop. Farmers there are worried. Worried about the weather, which delayed planting. Worried about the markets, which have been slow to recover after Mexico illegally dumped subsidized surpluses here and…
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As Mother Nature Rages, Agriculture’s Critics Attack
Farmers in West Texas and other parts of the Great Plains would love to be busier planting right now, but they’re having to reconsider because the ground is so dry it could destroy the seeds.
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You’ve Got Mail… Lots of It
It’s a busy time to be a farmer. Many are in their fields planting, or preparing to do so. They are literally “covering the ground” – cultivating roughly 300 million acres and preparing crops to be harvested in the fall to feed and clothe the world.
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Foreign Cheating Continues As Farm Bill Debate Unfolds
U.S. flagged vessels headed for China made an abrupt U-turn last month and headed for new ports. It wasn’t the weather that forced the change of course, but rather the contents in the ships’ hulls. Although the cargo involved is relatively small in the overall scope of agricultural trade, it did send off alarm bells for farmers who are depending on exports to lift them out of a slumping rural economy marked by low commodity prices.
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Our View: Beware of Anti-Farm, Socialist Rhetoric
How does the bill “modernize” sugar policy? It mandates that the U.S. Department of Agriculture invite heavily subsidized foreign imports into the U.S., artificially depressing farmer prices and rewarding bad actors abroad. Worse yet, the bill denies sugar producers the basic non-recourse loans available to other commodities, meaning failure to repay would result not just in the loss of crops pledged as collateral but in total bankruptcy.
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Farmers Make Their Voices Heard in Farm Bill Debate
The Farm Bill debate is officially underway with the House Agricultural Committee marking up H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, this week. Members of Congress have heard from growers and business owners over the last several months in listening sessions, during personal visits and in opinion pieces published in newspapers across the nation.
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Our View: ‘Get A Second or Third Job’ Is Not Sound Farm Policy
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal revealed a rarely-discussed phenomenon of farmers being forced to take second and even third jobs as they try to keep their family farms afloat.
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Old MacDonald Had a … Hurricane
Congress passed the first Farm Bill to help real Old MacDonalds who were struggling during the Great Depression. And lawmakers revisit the bill about every 5 years because, in contrast to the nursery rhyme, Old MacDonalds must constantly evolve with new tools, technologies and techniques to meet new challenges.
Our View: One for All
America enjoys the most affordable, widely available food supply in the history of mankind for about one-quarter of 1% of the federal budget. That’s why it’s so odd that organizations dedicated to defending taxpayers spend so much time focused on gutting farm policy.
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Key Lawmakers Discuss Farm Bill with Sugar Farmers
Displays of bipartisanship are an increasingly rare sight in Washington these days, but when it comes to prioritizing the need for strong farm policies during difficult times, Agriculture Committee leadership appear to be on the same page.
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What Recent Economic Reports Are Telling Us About Farming
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, last week, released projections that farm incomes will continue to fall in 2018 and will hit their lowest point in the past dozen years.
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Cutting Crop Insurance for Big Farms Would Hurt Small Farmers Too
America’s largest farms are far less risky than smaller operations and typically have fewer crop insurance claims, according to a new working paper from top agricultural economists.
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Farm, Trade Policy Experts Refute Critics in House Ag Committee Briefings
Approximately 100 Hill staffers attended a pair of briefings this week that closely examined and debunked a number of farm policy criticisms leveled by the Heritage Foundation and other anti-farmer organizations.
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2017: A Year of Foreign Ag Subsidies
According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2017 was the year of the “fire rooster,” which is also associated with the elements of gold and earth. It was fitting considering all the foreign farm subsidies that were doled out.
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Our View: A Presidential Start to 2018
American agriculture will take center stage in the national discussion next week when President Trump addresses Farm Bureau members in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Our View: Christmas Reflection
Thank you the farmers of this nation who put food on our tables, conserve our landscape and make our economy hum.
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Ag Census Under Way
Farmers and ranchers across America will have their voices heard in the USDA Census of Agriculture, and the data collected in the coming months will certainly help shape agricultural policy for years to come.
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Give Thanks for Our Nation’s Farmers
When you sit down at the family dinner table this Thanksgiving and count your many blessings, be sure to take a moment to acknowledge the contributions of our nation’s farmers.
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Our View: Anti-Farmer Legislation Rings Hollow
Last week was busy for the anti-farm crowd in their quest to leave farmers with fewer tools to deal with depressed crop prices and weather disasters.
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Don’t Forget About the Rural Infrastructure
As Congress considers President Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan, advocates for agriculture and rural communities are making sure lawmakers understand spending is needed not only for roads and bridges but also for broadband internet and a host of other items on the nation’s maintenance backlog.
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2017 Sugar Harvest: Louisiana Harvest Off to a Dry Start
“Here in Louisiana, it’s been more than 200 years we’ve been harvesting cane…”
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2017 Sugar Harvest: Minnesota Sugarbeet Farmers Race Against Winter
“Everything has gotten bigger and faster,” he says. And more expensive, which makes today’s low and stagnant sugar prices all the more challenging.
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2017 Sugar Harvest: Florida Sugarcane Farmers Hopeful After Irma
Hurricane Irma may ultimately be blamed for $100 billion in damage across Florida, making it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history.
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FPF Analysis: New USDA Net Farm Income Figures Not Exactly What They Seem
A new analysis by Farm Policy Facts reveals that the USDA’s projected Net Farm Income (NFI) increase is not exactly what it seems.
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35 Years Later, President Reagan’s Message to Farm Country Still Rings True
President Ronald Reagan’s message to America’s struggling farmers in 1982 is a message worth remembering on its 35th anniversary.
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Digging Out After Harvey
October 13, 2017 Hurricane Harvey’s toll on the southeastern Texas cotton crop is still being tallied. An expert with Texas A&M says up to 400,000 bales of cotton were still on the stalk. That could force farmers to go through the time-consuming process of trying to harvest what’s salvageable, but knowing their crop’s value will be significantly…
DetailsHarvey Was a ‘Gut Punch’ to Texas Farmers
Hurricane Harvey is a devastating reminder of the huge risks farmers take in growing the food and fiber needed to feed and clothe the world.
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Our View: Will Anything Ever Satisfy Farm Critics? No
“No” appears to be the only message the EWG, Heritage, PIRG, Club for Growth, and other perennial farm policy opponents are capable of delivering.
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New Study Exposes Heritage Foundation’s Misleading Narrative About Farm Policy
A new study by former USDA official Brandon Willis debunks The Heritage Foundation’s misleading narrative that there is no place for farm policy in America.
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Ag Community Has Waited Too Long for a Workable Guestworker Program
Farm Policy Facts is pleased to publish a guest editorial from Rep. Bob Goodlatte highlighting his efforts to improve the agricultural guestworker program in the U.S.
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Farm Bill’s Research Investment Helps Farmers Succeed
Wheat is complex and studying the plant is slower than the work required for others. But, U.S wheat must remain high quality and that takes research.
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Farm Bill Helps Small Businesses Reach Global Markets
Understanding what foreign buyers and end users want is where the government programs are helpful. But the programs have taken deep cuts over the years.
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