Farm Bill essential to survival of family farms

While many across the state are planting or branding, some Farmers Union members traveled to Washington, D.C., May 5-7 to advocate for the family farm and ranch during Farmers Union’s Week of Action. This year’s theme was “For Farmers Sake,” with one of the goals being to encourage Congress to pass a farm bill, but not just any farm bill. 

America’s farm bill expired two years ago, and as farmers and ranchers prepare for another season, there is uncertainty about the future of funding for conservation projects, farmer loans, crop insurance, and for school lunch, food banks, and other nutritional programs – all part of a normal farm bill that is up for debate in the new farm bill.

What we are being told by leaders from the Congressional Ag committees is that they have been asked to cut $250 billion from the farm bill. However, we are unclear what will be cut.

This means that they plan to cut the farm bill by about 50 percent.

About 76 percent of the current farm bill goes to funding nutrition programs that help feed our children and families in need. The balance is subsidies for crop insurance, conservation, and commodity programs.

At the same time farmers are being asked to cut the proposed budget, increases to military spending and tax cuts are ballooning our debt. Unfortunately, the healthy food that people eat, like fruits and vegetables, has largely been absent from the farm bill and the current proposal continues that oversight.

Before the election, the House Ag committee had passed a very generous farm bill and then used it as a rallying cry during the campaign, but since the election, nothing remotely similar has been proposed.

There has been some discussion about pulling nutrition programs out of the farm bill.  Farmers Union is advocating for a unified farm bill that continues to include the nutrition programs. The nutrition programs help garner votes from the urban areas to support the farm bill.

During the week of action in D.C. members explained the importance of crop insurance, conservation, commodity and local food assistance programs to the survival of the family farm and our rural communities.

You can still let your Congressional members know the importance of a strong, bipartisan farm bill at nfu.org/ffs.