What Do Farmers Want In The Farm Bill?

America’s farmers and ranchers await an overdue, updated Farm Bill.  What are some of the key things farmers want include in that new bill?

“I think there has been a lot of push to increase reference prices in Title I, and making some modifications to crop insurance," said Andrew Harker, principal of the Russell Group.  "You know, as we think about what growers were asking for as the farm bill process has been moving these last couple years, one of the biggest items that was requested was increased funding for MAP and FMD, the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development.”

Reference prices are also top of mind.

“Outside of that, increasing reference prices seems to be the next grower request, and then shoring up some of the crop insurance provisions," Harker noted.  "Those seem to be the biggest items that have risen to the top as far as asks from the industry, and as the farm bill's been rewritten.”

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