Click Play To Listen: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
An early resolution to the 2012 Farm Bill recently went by the wayside with the failure of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, or Super Committee. Megan Ritter is a new member of Indiana Farm Bureau’s national public policy team. She says what happens now is a return to a more normal process for negotiating a Farm Bill.
“We were anticipating that possibly we could get the Farm Bill written this year, and so ag groups across the country and Indiana were working hard to get our positions known and to work towards getting a Farm Bill yet this fall. But it looks like that’s not going to happen, so a return to a little bit more normal. We’ll begin after the first of the year, with the Senate and House Ag committees probably going out to the countryside and hearing from farmers and non-farmers alike about what we should be doing in ag programming.”
Ritter says there could be benefits to this return to more of the norm which will likely create a more open dialogue. Farmers want better communication since they know cuts are coming.
“However it will be questionable going into an election year exactly how this process is going to work,” she told HAT this week. “We’ll have to work through that process and work with our Indiana delegation to make sure that they know not only what’s in the best interests of Indiana farmers, but agriculture as a whole across this country.”
Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow has said she wants to be sure crop insurance and other risk management programs will be the foundation for the farm safety net. That syncs with the priorities at Indiana Farm Bureau, according to Ritter.
“Our members specifically said during our delegate session and I think they will reaffirm that during our upcoming state meeting that crop insurance and a stable risk management program is our top priority. Of course research, conservation, as well as rural development are also important, but key to protecting agriculture is that risk management component. That’s really been the mainstay of the conversation for Indiana farmers and what we’ve been talking to our Indiana delegation about.”
There are reports that Stabenow has outlined the next steps for the farm bill and they include hearings to resume at the end of January or the beginning of February. Stabenow says the Senate Agriculture Committee will keep working with its counterparts in the House to continue fine-tuning farm bill negotiations, and their foundation will be the $23 billion deficit reduction outline presented to the Super Committee.
Concerning the package, Stabenow says, “We certainly feel comfortable that we presented a very credible deficit reduction number while creating an agricultural policy that supports farmers. I’m very proud of the fact that rather than just talking about things like cutting down on duplication, consolidating, and streamlining, we’re actually doing that. As an example, conservation programs would be consolidated from 23 to 13.”
According to the Senator from Michigan, the across-the-board sequestration cuts that are scheduled for 2013 could be between 16-18 billion dollars for agriculture and nutrition programs. As for changes to the commodity title, Stabenow says they include: the elimination of direct payments, a new revenue plan and new target prices, and well as building the farm safety around crop insurance and other risk management programs.
Contributing: NAFB News Service
Meet Megan Ritter:
Click Play To Listen: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
