AFBF: Legislation Would Help Farmers In Challenging Economy

Legislation introduced by Senators Heidi Hietkamp and Joni Ernst would make changes to the Agricultural Risk Coverage program.  AFBF and other farm groups penned a letter to the Senators last week supporting the bill.  AFBF’s Mary Kay Thatcher said the bill would change the program to better serve farmer’s needs.  She added the three things covered in this legislation to fix problems impacting many producers.

“Lot of farmers are talking about the discrepancy in payments between counties also talking about what kind of data was being used.  I think using the Risk Management agency, the crop insurance data as the first choice rather than using NASS data”

The bill would also require USDA to calculate safety net payments based on a farm’s physical location.  Thatcher said those changes should help ensure farmers a strong safety net moving forward.

“It’s important to have a safety net when farmers are dealing with difficult times certainly we’re looking at an economy around the world that’s not doing all that great, so we need to make sure there is a safety net there for farmers.”

Committee markup of the next farm bill may start soon, but the bulk of the work isn’t likely until early next year.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com