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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Farm input costs are likely to remain at elevated levels well after commodity prices come off their historic highs, and farm bill programs could provide only limited help, economists warned lawmakers Thursday.
Ballooning cost estimates for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are likely to paint a bigger target on the farm bill’s nutrition title heading when lawmakers start drafting the bill in the next Congress.
Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee heard from Michigan producers who represent a broad range of commodities, scale and farming practices as the panel formally started hearings on the next farm bill.
With the government finally funded for fiscal 2022, lawmakers can turn their attention to other policy issues and begin work on funding legislation for FY23.
Leaders of major crop groups say the farm bill commodity programs won’t adequately protect their margins at a time of skyrocketing input costs, but the organizations aren’t ready to propose specific changes.
USDA says a record 1.77 million contracts were signed by producers for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2019 crop year.
China’s commitments to dramatically increase its purchases of U.S. commodities have raised new questions for farmers as they face decisions about which farm bill program to enroll in and pencil out their finances and risk management for the year.
The National Farmers Union argues that despite hard-fought gains scored in the 2018 farm bill, it’s urgent to build on these gains by launching new federal incentives to curb U.S. ag production in order to raise farm income.
Government payments to farmers are forecast to hit their highest level in more than a decade because of the trade assistance being provided to producers this year, and the total could go even higher if Congress, as expected, authorizes a new round of disaster aid.