Jan 27th Ag Extra - Farm Bill Conference Report Announced!

House-Senate Negotiators Announce Bipartisan Agreement on Final Farm Bill

House and Senate agriculture leaders today announced a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on a five-year farm bill that will reduce the deficit, grow the economy and provide certainty to the 16 million Americans whose jobs depend on agriculture. The Agricultural Act of 2014 contains major reforms including eliminating the direct payment program, streamlining and consolidating numerous programs to improve their effectiveness and reduce duplication, and cutting down on program misuse. The bill also strengthens our nation's commitment to support farmers and ranchers affected by natural disasters or significant economic losses, and renews a national commitment to protect land, water, and other natural resources.

"I am proud of our efforts to finish a farm bill conference report with significant savings and reforms," said Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. "We are putting in place sound policy that is good for farmers, ranchers, consumers, and those who have hit difficult times. I appreciate the work of everyone who helped in this process. We never lost sight of the goal, we never wavered in our commitment to enacting a five-year, comprehensive farm bill. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting its passage."

"Today's bipartisan agreement puts us on the verge of enacting a five-year Farm Bill that saves taxpayers billions, eliminates unnecessary subsidies, creates a more effective farm safety-net and helps farmers and businesses create jobs," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "This bill proves that by working across party lines we can reform programs to save taxpayer money while strengthening efforts to grow our economy. Agriculture is a bright spot in our economy and is helping to drive our recovery. It's time for Congress to finish this Farm Bill and give the 16 million Americans working in agriculture the certainty they need and deserve."

"I am pleased that we were able to work together, putting aside partisanship to finally advance a five-year farm bill," said Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee. "Compromise is rare in Washington these days but it's what is needed to actually get things done. While it's no secret that I do not support some of the final bill's provisions, I believe my reservations are outweighed by the need to provide long term certainty for agriculture and nutrition programs. This process has been going on far too long; I urge my colleagues to support this bill and the President to quickly sign it into law."

"This bill reflects a lot of hard work and conscientious effort to help strengthen American agriculture and assure consumers of food and fiber that it is nutritious and affordable," said Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "The reforms, savings and other significant changes in this agreement will provide greater certainty to producers and rural communities, as well as American consumers. It deserves to be considered and enacted as soon as possible."

Enacting the Agricultural Act of 2014 will reform agriculture programs, reduce the deficit, and help farmers, ranchers and business owners grow the economy. The legislation:

• Repeals the direct payment program and strengthens risk management tools
• Repeals outdated programs and consolidates duplicative ones, eliminating nearly 100 programs or authorizations
• Helps farmers and ranchers create jobs and provides certainty for the 16 million Americans working in agriculture
• Strengthens conservation efforts to protect land, water and wildlife for future generations
• Maintains food assistance for families while addressing fraud and misuse in SNAP
• Reduces the deficit by billions of dollars in mandatory spending

Ends Direct Payments, Strengthens Risk Management
The Agricultural Act of 2014 reforms farm programs and saves taxpayer dollars by ending direct payments and other farm programs. The bill provides risk management tools that help American farmers and ranchers survive weather disasters and market volatility.

The bill also strengthens crop insurance, which is an essential cost-effective risk management tool. With crop insurance, farmers invest in their own risk management by purchasing insurance policies so they are protected in difficult times. Crop insurance also helps protect Americans from spikes in food prices. Without crop insurance farmers would have no way to recover from disaster unless the government steps in and provides unplanned disaster assistance. The effectiveness of crop insurance was underscored during the historic droughts of 2012, which impacted more than 80% of the country. Crop insurance protected farmers without the need for an emergency disaster relief bill.

Additionally, the bill provides a permanent livestock disaster assistance program for producers affected by natural disasters, and also covers producers who were affected by recent droughts, winter storms that hit the Northern Plains last year, and spring freezes that affected fruit growers in the Midwest.

Streamlines Programs, Strengthens Conservation
The Agricultural Act of 2014 consolidates 23 existing conservation programs into 13 programs while strengthening tools to protect and conserve land, water and wildlife. By streamlining programs, the farm bill provides added flexibility and ensures conservation programs are working for producers in the most effective and efficient way – an approach supported by nearly 650 conservation organizations from all 50 states.

Protects SNAP for Families, Reduces Fraud and Misuse
The bipartisan farm bill conference agreement maintains critical assistance for families while stopping fraud and misuse to achieve savings in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The farm bill agreement closes a loophole being used by some states to artificially inflate benefits for a small number of recipients. Additionally, the bipartisan agreement stops lottery winners from continuing to receive assistance, increases program efficiency, cracks down on trafficking, fraud and misuse, and invests in new pilot programs to help people secure employment through job training and other services. Savings in this section are reached without removing anyone from the SNAP program, and will ensure that every person receives the benefits they are intended to get under the current rules of the program.

Grows the Agricultural Economy
The Agricultural Act of 2014 reduces the deficit while strengthening top priorities that help to grow the agricultural economy. The bill:

• Boosts export opportunities to help farmers find new global markets for their goods
• Continues investments to meet growing consumer demand for fresh fruits and vegetables, local foods and organics by helping family farmers sell locally, increasing support for farmers' markets, and connecting farmers to schools and other community-based organizations
• Supports beginning farmers and ranchers with training and access to capital
• Increases assistance for food banks
• Reduces regulatory barriers
• Invests in state-run pilot projects to encourage and incentivize employment and training opportunities for families in need
• Creates initiatives to help veterans start agriculture businesses
• Grows American bio-based manufacturing (manufacturing processes using raw agricultural products grown in America)
• Expands bio-energy production, supporting non-food based advanced biomass energy production such as cellulosic ethanol and woody biomass power
• Invests in research to promote productivity and new agricultural innovations
• Strengthens rural development initiatives to help rural communities upgrade infrastructure and create a better environment for small businesses



Soybean Farmers Support Farm Bill Conference Report, Urge House and Senate to Vote “Yes”

The farmers of the American Soybean Association (ASA) congratulated conferees from the House and Senate as the final version of the much-anticipated farm bill was filed with the House clerk tonight and awaits action on the floor as soon as Wednesday.

ASA supports the bill, which provides for multiple soybean farmer priorities, most notably a flexible farm safety net that includes a choice between price-based and revenue-based risk management tools and maintains the decoupling of payments under both programs from current planted acreage.

“This has been a trying process to be sure, but we think that through it all, the conferees and their leadership have produced a framework that will serve the best interests of soybean farmers,” said Ray Gaesser, ASA President and farmer from Corning, Iowa. “Chairwoman Stabenow, Chairman Lucas and Ranking Members Cochran and Peterson deserve great credit and our sincere thanks for pushing this bill to the finish line. We are grateful for that hard work and perseverance, and we call on the House and the Senate to vote “yes” and bring the process to a conclusion.”

The bill includes a choice between an ASA-supported revenue program that covers both price and yield losses with county and farm level options, and a price support program which allows the optional purchase of insurance coverage under a Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). The bill also eliminates controversial Direct Payments while maintaining decoupled farm support programs that will minimize the possibility of planting and production distortions that could trigger new WTO challenges. The language in Title 1 allows producers to choose between maintaining existing crop acreage base or reallocating their current base acreage to reflect average acres planted to covered commodities in 2009-2012.

“The bill establishes practical risk management programs that will protect us in difficult times. That’s been our top priority from day one,” said Gaesser. “But beyond that, we support this bill because it strengthens crop insurance; includes a streamlining and optimizing of conservation programs; funds critical energy and agricultural research initiatives; and invests in the trade development programs that are so critical to the soybean industry.”

On crop insurance, the bill makes enterprise units permanent, allows growers to purchase enterprise unit coverage for both irrigated and dryland crops, authorizes a new Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), and will help to strengthen the next generation of agriculture by providing a 10 percent increase in premium support to beginning farmers and ranchers.

“Make no mistake, this bill represents a reform to the farm program,” added Gaesser. “It will make the programs on which we depend more relevant and more defensible, but it will also prevent those programs from distorting planting decisions and potentially impacting the marketplace.”

The bill also secures several other ASA priorities, including agricultural research programs like the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) and the new Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR); the export promotion work done by the Foreign Market Development (FMD) and Market Access Program (MAP) on which soybeans depend as the nation’s top farm export; and key energy programs, including the Biodiesel Education Program and a strengthened Biobased Markets Program. Additionally, the bill consolidates 23 previous conservation programs into 13, while focusing conservation efforts on working lands.

“In addition to the bill’s victories for soybean farmers, it is important to note what the bill does for the country as a whole,” said Gaesser. “The bill still provides for those in need of food assistance by preserving the decades-old balance and partnership between farm and nutrition programs that has seen farm legislation through in years past. The bill also addresses our nation’s budgetary issues by cutting $24 billion over ten years, making agriculture the only industry sector that has come together despite its differences and contributed to deficit reduction.

“The bill is a compromise,” Gaesser added. “It ensures the continued success of American agriculture, and we encourage both the House and the Senate to pass it quickly.”

The bill now awaits action by the full House, which could come as soon as Wednesday.



Corn Growers Urge Swift Passage of 2014 Farm Bill
The following is a statement from National Corn Growers President Martin Barbre on the Agricultural Act of 2014, released by the House-Senate conference committee.

“We appreciate the hard work of the committee, especially Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Thad Cochran and Reps. Frank Lucas and Collin Peterson, for crafting a balanced compromise that ensures market-oriented reforms and effective risk management tools.   Their work, and that of many of their colleagues, has resulted in policies and reforms that we believe will effectively meet the diverse needs of consumers and farmers around the country.

“We’re especially pleased the legislation provides an adequate and flexible farm safety net as well as  strong federal crop insurance program. The new bill also includes an option for farmers to participate in a modified Agriculture Risk Coverage program.  

“We urge swift passage by both houses of Congress and look forward to seeing this new bill become law as soon as possible.”



NMPF Statement on Completion of Farm Bill Dairy Title
Jim Mulhern, President and Chief Executive Officer, NMPF

“Over the past week, NMPF has worked with agriculture leaders in the House and Senate to develop a margin insurance program that will offer dairy farmers an effective safety net in the absence of the market stabilization component featured in our original program.

“That process is now complete. Despite its limitations, we believe the revised program will help address the volatility in farmers’ milk prices, as well as feed costs, and provide appropriate signals to help address supply and demand.

“The program that we have worked to develop establishes a reasonable and responsible national risk management tool that will give farmers the opportunity to insure against catastrophic economic conditions, when milk prices drop, feed prices soar, or the combination. By limiting how much future milk production growth can be insured, the measure creates a disincentive to produce excess milk. The mechanism used is not what we would have preferred, but it will be better than just a stand-alone margin insurance program that lacks any means to disincentivize more milk production during periods of over-supply

“Importantly, the program doesn’t discriminate against farms of differing sizes, or preferentially treat those in differing regions.

“The revised bill also establishes a system for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchase consumer-packaged dairy products during low-margin periods, which will stimulate demand and help dairy farmers when they need it most, and only then.

“We thank the principals of the House-Senate agriculture conference committee for working hard in an attempt to address the needs of dairy producers in this measure. We look forward to the passage of the overall farm bill, and will work diligently with the USDA to ensure the resulting dairy program is as effective and farmer-friendly as possible.”



NFU Pleased with Initial Read of Farm Bill Conference Report
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement following the 2014 Farm Bill Conference Committee’s release of its report on The Agricultural Act of 2014:

“Upon initial review of the language released by the committee, NFU is pleased with the final bill. I know that the farm bill is a long, laborious task and appreciate the work of leadership in both chambers, staff and all who made it possible to get this far in the process.

“I am encouraged to see provisions that benefit family farmers and ranchers in the bill, including approximately $4 billion in livestock disaster funds, retroactively available to those who suffered tremendous losses last October. It increases access for livestock producers to Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) benefits, along with many other supportive policies for the livestock industry.

“NFU is happy that Congress did not make any legislative changes to the Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) law or major adjustments to protections for producers under the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).

“The NFU Board of Directors will meet tomorrow to review the bill, comparing it to the priorities that we have put forward to all members of Congress several times, but overall we are pleased to see the process move forward.”