Peace Garden News

WASHINGTON – At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing this week, Senator John Hoeven confirmed with Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, and Rob Larew, President of the National Farmers Union, their support for strengthening the nation’s agriculture safety net in the next farm bill, including:

• Prioritizing crop insurance, the primary risk management tool for many producers.
• Updating and improving the counter-cyclical safety net, including the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.

Hoeven stressed the value that U.S. farmers and ranchers provide to American consumers, particularly low-income individuals, and outlined how effective farm policy is necessary to both keep food costs down and reduce the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance.

“Considering the fact that less than 20 percent of the farm bill goes toward directly supporting our producers, we need to make sure those funds are used as effectively as possible,” said Hoeven. “The leaders of our nation’s two largest farm organizations agree that we need to prioritize strengthening key risk management tools like crop insurance, ARC and PLC in the next farm bill. This is all about ensuring our farmers and ranchers can continue to produce the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world, which benefits every American, especially low-income households, every single day.”

In addition, Hoeven discussed the need to:

• Improve transparency and competition in cattle markets.
• Strengthen livestock disaster programs, including the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP).
• Cut red-tape and ensure programs are farmer-friendly.

Hoeven is advancing these priorities as work continues on the next farm bill, having previously raised them with U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. These efforts follow a discussion that Hoeven hosted last year with Senator John Boozman, Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in North Dakota with local producers and commodity groups, providing them the opportunity to give direct input on the next farm bill.

Original source can be found here.