As president, Hillary Clinton says she would focus the farm safety net – crop supports, crop insurances and disaster relief – on “farmers and ranchers that truly need it the most, not those who have the biggest businesses or the best connections. We will change the formula.” Clinton cited farm-program reform as part of her four-point plan for a vibrant rural America, home to 15 percent of Americans. The four points, she said during a speech in central Iowa, are renewable energy, investment, agriculture and access to health care and education.
Two of the stickiest issues for the 2014 farm law were limits on crop subsidy payments to growers and how much the government should subsidize crop insurance premiums. Clinton would have few immediate opportunities to act on either issue without assent by the Republican-controlled Congress. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley is a vocal proponent of stricter payment limits. Reformers say big operators should pay more for crop insurance; the government pays an average 62 percent of the premium now. The 2014 farm law expires in late 2018.
Rural states can lead the way in solar power and renewable fuels, Clinton said. “We need to strengthen the Renewable Fuels Standard so that it drives the development of advanced biofuels and expands the overall contribution that renewable fuels make to our national fuel supply.” At present, corn-based ethanol is by far the leading renewable fuel, although the RFS, which guarantees biofuels a share of the motor-fuel market, calls for new-generation biofuels to surpass corn ethanol in the near future.
The EPA has suggested a relaxation of the RFS because Americans are burning less gasoline than forecast and because so-called advanced biofuels are years behind schedule in reaching the market. Less corn would be made into ethanol under the EPA proposal.
In the speech, Clinton called for comprehensive immigration reform, broader investment in rural areas, including expansion of high-speed Internet access, which also could be used in telemedicine that improves rural health care.