If Congress follows his lead, some commodities will get larger increases in reference prices than others, but the new farm bill will provide a robust safety net for all producers, said House Agriculture Committee chair Glenn Thompson on Wednesday. Thompson said his proposed package, to be released in coming weeks, would remove some of the “guardrails” that limit the use of climate mitigation funding.
Farm groups have given priority in the farm bill to higher reference prices, which would make it easier to trigger subsidy payments, and to expanding the federally subsidized crop insurance program. Thompson has said his committee will vote on his draft before Memorial Day.
During an AgriTalk interview, Thompson was asked if his “mark” proposed different percentage increases for different row crops that range from wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton, and rice to peanuts, lentils, and chickpeas. Would farmers rebel at uneven increases? asked host Chip Flory.
“I would hope not, because equity should be based on what you need, not what you want,” replied Thompson. “You know the different commodities are in different states and they always have been, and so equity should be based on … providing what each of these individual commodities need.”
Thompson said that “all conservation practices are climate-smart,” so “we will be removing some of those guardrails” that constrain the use of climate funding.
Georgia Rep. David Scott, the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, said a week ago that Thompson’s package crossed a red line by including a provision that would reduce SNAP outlays by $30 billion in the future and by limiting the administration’s authority to use a $30 billion USDA reserve. “Do we want to jeopardize our best chance to fix an outdated farm safety net over an ideological obsession with cutting SNAP benefits?” wrote Scott.
During his AgriTalk interview, Thompson said he hoped to change the minds of Scott and other Democrats.
For a USDA overview of commodity supports and reference prices under the 2018 farm law, click here.