2018 farm bill
Roberts rips states for ‘cheating and gaming’ to win food stamp bonuses
The government cannot be sure that food stamp money is dispensed properly because states obscured their payment errors in pursuit of USDA bonuses for efficient operations, said Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts. "Simply put, no one knows the error rate of (food stamps) and that is unacceptable," said Roberts.
Cottonseed subsidy could cost $420 million or more
The Senate proposal to create a subsidy program for cottonseed could carry a pricetag of $420 million or more, according to an analysis by economist Carl Zulauf of Ohio State University. Zulauf did not calculate the figure but estimated 14.08 million acres might be eligible, with payments of $30 an acre, based on USDA payment formulas.
Poverty rate, at 12.7 percent, finally sinks to pre-recession level
The U.S. poverty rate fell for the second year in a row and, after years of slow economic recovery, it is back to pre-recession levels, the Census Bureau said in an annual report. The nationwide poverty rate for 2016 was 12.7 percent, down by 0.8 points from the previous year; the rural poverty rate – consistently above the urban rate – was 15.8 percent, down by 0.9 points.
House bill would give urban growers a seat at the farm-bill table
The USDA could spend more than $1 billion over five years to promote urban agriculture, farmers markets and regional food systems under legislation backed by a dozen House Democrats. Lead sponsor Marcy Kaptur filed the bill with an eye toward its inclusion in the 2018 farm bill, to be drafted soon.
SNAP benefits inadequate for healthy diet
A comparison of food stamp benefits and federal dietary guidelines finds that the premiere U.S. antihunger program "only covers 43-60 percent of what it costs to consume ... a healthy diet," says North Carolina State University. "The study highlights the challenges lower-income households face in trying to eat a healthy diet."
In admission of failure, USDA allows farmers to leave dairy program
The insurance-like dairy subsidy created in the 2014 farm law has been roundly criticized as a failure by farmers and dairy-state lawmakers. The USDA signaled its agreement, telling producers they can opt out of the Margin Protection Program for 2018, rather than remaining locked into it while Congress writes a new farm bill.
GAO says ‘significant savings’ possible in crop insurance costs
The government could pare as much as $464 million annually from the cost of running the taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance system if it set more stringent terms with insurers, said a congressional watchdog agency. The recommendations hit different areas than the White House has targeted, or that lawmakers are expected to pursue in writing the 2018 farm bill.
Senate chairman says no crop insurance cuts in 2018 farm bill
With farm income in a slump, the government should be a partner, not an adversary, to farmers and ranchers, said the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee in ruling out cuts to the federally subsidized crop insurance program. “Let me emphasize that crop insurance is, for many, the most valuable tool in the risk management toolbox,” said chairman Pat Roberts.
California says farm bill should stress nutrition, stewardship, trade
The 2018 farm bill should “promote the connection between food production and food access, while ensuring that we take care of the land,” says Karen Ross, the California state agriculture secretary, in releasing the state’s recommendations for the legislation. California is the No. 1 farm state in dollar value of production.
Lamenting the loss of Iowa’s midsized farms
In an editorial, The Des Moines Register lamented the decline of midsized farms, which it said are vital to local economies, small towns, and school districts all over rural Iowa. Although these farms still account for 52.6 percent of the state’s agricultural sales, they’re getting squeezed. Their net on-farm income has fallen 44 percent from the farm economy’s peak in 2012 to 2015, and debt levels are rising, the paper said.
Few Trump detractors in Farm Belt at the six-month mark
Farmers voted overwhelmingly for President Trump last fall and they are ardent supporters to this day, according to a Farm Futures survey of 1,200 growers, as the president completed his sixth month in office. Some 49 percent gave Trump an "A" or a "B" grade on agriculture; only 10 percent, roughly the same portion who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton, gave him an "F."
Oregon lawmaker says he’ll file an ‘outsider’ farm bill
Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregen easily qualifies as a farm bill outsider – he's part of the minority party in the U.S. House, represents the Portland area and is not a member of the Agriculture Committee. All the same, Blumenauer says he will soon file a farm bill that reins in excessive spending on crop subsidies and strengthens public nutrition programs.
Perdue plans farm bill tour heavy on farmers, light on consumers
Three days after canceling participation in a farm bill "listening session" called by the the House Agriculture Committee in Texas, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will launch a Midwestern "Back to Our Roots" tour of five Midwestern states to gather ideas for the 2108 farm bill and rural prosperity. The five-state tour has seven sessions with farmers and one, a visit to a Milwaukee-area farm that donates food to the poor, that deals with hunger in America.
Farm bill work starts this fall, vote possible this year, says Conaway
The House could vote on its version of the 2018 farm bill as early as this fall, said Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway at a farm bill "listening session" in his home state of Texas, the No. 1 cotton and cattle producer in the country. After an unsuccessful redesign of the cotton program in the 2014 law, cotton growers repeatedly said their crop must be eligible for the same subsidies as the other major U.S. crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat.
Oregon Democrat wants a ban on neonics in the farm bill
Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer "wants to include a ban on pesticides linked to declining bee health in next year's farm bill," says Bloomberg BNA. The Democrat, who is not a member of the committee that will write the farm bill, would suspend EPA approval of neonicotinoid pesticides until the agency determines they don't harm pollinators, such as honeybees.
Senior Democrat on Senate Ag has ‘strong concerns’ about Clovis’ qualifications
President Trump's choice for USDA chief scientist, college professor Sam Clovis, appears to lack the credentials for the job, said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, which will vote on the nomination. The Union of Concerned Scientists said Clovis, "a vocal climate denier...is an unacceptable and illegal choice for this important role."
Ag sector slump makes strong farm bill vital, say two biggest farm groups
As lawmakers gather ideas for the 2018 farm bill, the two largest U.S. farm groups say one thing is clear: it's not the time to reduce funding for the bill and its vast array of USDA activities, from crop supports to food stamps. Commodity prices have been in a trough since 2013, so "many of America's farmers and ranchers are struggling," says the American Farm Bureau Federation, while the National Farmers Union said the drop in farm income threatens the survival of beginning farmers.
Is a penny on the dollar the same as $10 billion in farm bill programs?
House Budget chairwoman Diane Black is trying to line up fractious Republicans to support budget cuts of a penny on the dollar for mandatory spending programs over the next 10 years. If Budget Committee members agree, that ratio would trim around $10 billion from programs that would be part of the new farm bill, a smaller amount than the $17 billion cut from crop supports, conservation and food stamps in the 2014 farm law.
Farmers to get $10 billion in economic assistance
President Biden signed a stop-gap government funding bill over the weekend that calls for speedy payment of $10 billion to farmers to buffer lower commodity prices and high production costs. Congress voted to fund the government through March 14 after a fight that showed the limits of President-elect Trump's control over Republican lawmakers.