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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow is circulating some ideas for farm program reforms that include an increase in effective reference prices that would benefit all commodities, plus an unspecified improvement in marketing loans.
Farmers and ranchers would like to see increased crop insurance subsidies and commodity price supports in the new farm bill, and a strong majority support cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to an exclusive Agri-Pulse producer poll.
Farm groups on Thursday welcomed congressional approval of a continuing resolution that includes a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill, ensuring that existing commodity programs will operate normally for 2024 crops.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow expects to have $4 billion to $5 billion in new funding available to address issues with commodity programs and expand crop insurance options, she said in an exclusive interview with Agri-Pulse.
The chaos among House Republicans isn’t the only hurdle facing a new farm bill. Senate Republican Whip John Thune, R-S.D., says the Senate Ag Committee remains divided over key issues, including what to do about the major commodity programs.
Democrats on the House and Senate Agriculture committees see the farm safety net as broader thanthan the major commodity programs and want to make sure that the next farm bill addresses needs of smaller-scale producers, committee aides say.
House Republicans were arguing not long ago that a deal on the debt ceiling could make it easier to pass a farm bill. Instead, many conservatives are angry over the debt agreement and demanding cuts to nutrition assistance and other programs that could delay the development of a new farm bill and even threaten its passage.
Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee reiterated their commitment to passing a new farm bill with strong bipartisan support that will meet the needs of farmers as well as low-income Americans who rely on nutrition assistance programs.
The House Agriculture Committee formally appealed Thursday for "adequate resources" in the next farm bill to compensate for what the panel says is the “ineffectiveness” of existing commodity programs.