A Senate Ag Committee farm bill hearing focused on how the Title I safety net is no longer adequate with the current ag environment. At the same time, Congress is spending more dollars on ad hoc assistance and that’s not sustainable.
Senate Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow says Congress has passed nearly $70 billion in ad hoc disaster assistance outside of the farm program since 2018. She wants that corrected in the new farm legislation. She also charged the committee to look at risk management program enhancements to make payments equitable and work for every farmer, of every size and enterprise. She says a lot has changed in the agricultural industry since the 2018 farm bill was written and the safety net needs to be enhanced.
Senate Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, “There’s still gaps in the farm safety net as farmers continue to face global market uncertainty and climate filled weather disasters. We need to work together to create a safety net that is responsive to the needs of all of our farmers. Crop insurance is the number one risk management tool for producers but historically hasn’t been available for some farmers who are most in need of it.”
Ranking Chairman Senator John Boozman says climate change and nutrition programs have seen dramatic increases in funding while farm safety net resources have dwindled. He says last year the reconciliation process added $38 billion in funding to conservation, rural development and the like but didn’t do anything to bolster the safety net. “The risk in farming has never been greater, farm production costs are estimated to be $460 billion this year a record that tops last year’s record. Crop prices are likely to decline in the coming years but prices for many of our major commodities would have to drop sharply before the current Title I price loss coverage safety net would start to work.”
Boozman says corn prices would have to decline by 46% before farmers would receive assistance under the current program, and that is true of many commodities. So, there is need for an update of reference prices and revenue levels to trigger farm program payments.
They reiterated the need to get new legislation passed before the current bill expires and that an extension is inadequate in the current agricultural environment. Senators on the committee also addressed many other areas that need to be tweaked or changed and criticized USDA for its handling of Phase 2 payments in the Emergency Relief Program or ERP.
