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Senators plan marker bills
Story Date: 4/27/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 4/26/18
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), a member of the Agriculture Committee, plans to introduce a bill today with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that would incrementally increase funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development program to $50 million by fiscal 2023 and each year thereafter (the 2014 farm bill authorized $20 million annually).
The program is administered by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. It awards competitive grants to universities, state agricultural extension services and community organizations for training and apprenticeship programs. The bill would prioritize areas of the program that link current producers who are looking to transition their operation to a new or beginning farmer.
"With the number of new farmers and ranchers falling - and our current population of farmers aging - this bill would take important steps to maintain North Dakota's strong tradition of family farming and help new farmers and ranchers launch successful careers," Heitkamp said in a statement, noting that the share of farmers age 65 and older increased from 14 percent to more than 31 percent between 1945 and 2012.
The bill also would change the definition of a beginning farmer and rancher under the crop insurance program to those working less than 10 years, as opposed to five. It would also direct state USDA offices to designate an employee to reach out to such producers.
Thune eyes changes to ARC to boost corn, soybean, wheat subsidies: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who sits on the agriculture panel with Heitkamp, introduced legislation Wednesday to increase payments to farmers enrolled in the commodity support program Agriculture Risk Coverage by changing its formula, Catherine writes.
ARC issues payments to producers when the average crop revenue in their county drops below a guaranteed level. The current level is set at 86 percent. Under Thune's bill, the revenue guarantee would increase to 90 percent. And using a 10-year average to set the floor would lead to larger payments to farmers.
Less sweet for Southern crops: Another provision could reduce payments to some growers enrolled in another commodity support program, Price Loss Coverage, by making adjustments to reference prices set by Congress in the farm bill. PLC pays subsidies when average crop prices drop below those reference levels. Crops like cotton, peanuts and rice, primarily grown in Southern states, would likely get lower payments under such a policy. Check out a summary here. https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/e2812c35-5b3f-47ae-8fe9-79176d778486/D1D88A8A74FB75FA63C99E47FAE7EE18.the-final-final.pdf
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