Time for Agriculture to Band Together Against Further Farm Safety Net Cuts

With the next Farm Bill on the horizon - Former House Ag Comittee Chairman Larry Combest says there's plenty of nervousness and negativity in farm country about what's in store.  So much in fact - that he says certain groups have stepped forward and shown a willingness to sacrifice parts of the farm safety net that they consider less important.  Combest says now is not the time to offer sacrificial lambs - but rather to tell U.S. agriculture's success story - and the important role farm policy plays in supporting family farms and the U.S. economy...

"Farm policy is the only area of the Federal Government that has actually decreased in recent years.  The most recent five year average funding for farm policy and crop insurance combined is $13.7 bilion dollars, that's a 23% reduction from the 2002 - 2006 period and a 28% reduction from the $19 billion dollars per year from the 1997 - 2001 period.  This record of success is nothing short of amazing.  But despite these significant savings, the family farm safety net has suffered substantial legislative cuts, even in recent times.  Just last month, the Obama administration touted the fact that it made a 6 million dollar cut to crop insurance and described it 'as one of the first and most significant steps that a federal agency has achieved in reducing mandatory spending from the long term federal deficit'. 

This was on top of a $6.2 billion dollar reduction that was taken out of crop insurance in the 2008 Farm Bill and a $1.2 billion dollar cut that was taken out of the commodity title.  What we're left with is an incredibly efficient program that provides just a little bit of stability upon which our agricultural enterprises can flourish. 

The 2010 crop year is entering harvest time and the USDA expects the total value of goods produced to be $332 billion dollars.  That's a significant amount of wealth created for our economy.  And it comes only after the farmers and ranchers will have spent $187 billion to purchase inputs; made $62 billion dollars in payments to stakeholders and for rent;  paid $26 billion dollars to wages; and spent $14 billion dollars in interest and financing.

American agriculture is an economic engine for which we should not have to apologize.  Instead we should be loudly touting its benefits so that everyone can hear it.  And we need to realize that all of agriculture needs to stick together to protect its interests.  Even though not all aspects of the farm safety net are important to all farmers.  Fixed payments are more important for some than others.  Crop insurance works better for some than others.  The various counter cyclical programs work for some, not others.  But one fact remains certain, and that is that farm families across the United States all rely on a stable farm safety net in some way. 

We can and should work together to improve these components. But now is the time that we need to band together to say,  'We've already made our share of cuts'...and other areas of government simply need to follow them.  We have a uniquely positive story to tell, now let's go out there and tell it."

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