U.S. Senate Ag Committee Approves Farm Bill

Senate Ag Committee OKs the Farm Bill with a few changes.

Go to http://www.ag.senate.gov/issues/farm-bill. to see the amendments.

Full Text of Farm Bill Available for Reading

Go to http://www.ag.senate.gov/issues/farm-bill and then click under Legislative Text to read a PDF of the full Farm Bill that will be marked up beginning Tuesday.

Markup for 2013 Farm Bill Begins Tuesday

The markup begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 14 on the 2013 Farm Bill, according to the U.S. Senate Ag Committee.

The discussion will be shown live at http://www.ag.senate.gov/404/?go=hearings/agriculture-reform-food-and-jobs-act-of-2013 this link. 

Gillibrand Opposes Cut to SNAP in Farm Bill

Another story on U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's take on the to-be-written Farm Bill.

Go to http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/today_in_washington_gillibrand_1.html#incart_river_default to see the full story.

Gillibrand to Discuss Farm Priorities Today at Noon

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will talk today at noon about the upcoming vote on the Farm Bill.

As the Farm Bill moves through the Senate Agriculture Committee as early as this week, reaching the full Senate the following week, Gillibrand will outline her priorities for the legislation to strengthen New York State’s agriculture industry and rural communities.

Gillibrand, New York’s first member of the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly four decades, is fighting to include measures that can strengthen specialty crop insurance, improve access to credit for struggling farmers, invest in rural broadband, and connect locally grown, farm-fresh produce with communities that need it, as well as reform dairy pricing and strengthen income for dairy farmers.

As of 2010, New York State is home to more than 36,000 farms that stretch across nearly 7 million acres of land, according to USDA data. 

Vilsack: It's Time for a New Food, Farm and Jobs Bill

Here is this week's column from Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack:

In recent months, the Federal budget has dominated the conversation here in Washington. At the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we have been working hard on mission critical priorities, even as we implement mandatory across-the-board budget cuts.

The good news is that our proactive efforts to cut costs have saved more than $828 million in recent years, putting us in a better position to deliver important programs.

But we also have not lost sight of a key requirement for these programs to continue: passage of a comprehensive, multiyear Food, Farm and Jobs Bill.

In January, Congress took short-term action to extend many 2008 Farm Bill programs for nine months. Those programs will expire in September, limiting their effectiveness and providing no long-term certainty for farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

As Congress returns to Washington in the coming days, leaders from both parties have signaled a willingness to come together and get a Food, Farm and Jobs Bill passed. That is promising news. USDA intends to provide whatever technical assistance we can to help Congress pass a long-term, comprehensive bill.

A Food, Farm and Jobs Bill would allow USDA to continue our record accomplishments on behalf of the American people, while providing new income opportunities across rural America.

It would enable USDA to further expand markets for agricultural products at home and abroad, strengthen conservation efforts, create new opportunities for local and regional food systems and grow the biobased economy.

It would maintain important agricultural research, and ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all Americans. A comprehensive bill would also continue programs that directly help rural communities – such as the 110 grants USDA awarded this week under our Value-Added Producer Grant program to help rural small businesses manufacture new products, expand local food systems and create jobs.

We have not lost sight of the importance of a long-term Food, Farm and Jobs Bill – and I know folks across rural America are counting on Congress to get the job done as soon as possible. We stand ready to help in any way we can.

Gillibrand, Maine Sen. Collins Push for Milk Pricing Reform

Go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/usda-milk-pricing-dairy_n_3128360.html to read the story.

AgWeek Reports Farm Bill Markup Set for May 15

This is from AgWeek:

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., plans to mark up the farm bill on May 15, Agweek has learned. 

Lucas’s plan was first reported April 18 in Politico, a Washington insider publication. The National Association of Wheat Growers said the same day it had gotten “official” word that the markup would be May 15. 

The plan raises the possibility that the House Agriculture Committee will mark up the bill before the Senate Agriculture Committee, which marked up first last year. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has said she wants to hold a markup before the Senate leaves for a recess at the end of next week, but that deadline seems to be slipping.

American Farm Bureau Federation Issues Farm Bill Proposal

Go to http://www.agri-pulse.com/Audio-Thursday.asp to hear an audio clip explaining the Farm Bill proposal from the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Twitter: Farm Bill Back on Agenda in April

It's being reported on Twitter that the U.S. Senate will likely move the Farm Bill along beginning in April.

Also, there could very well be another one-year extension of the bill.

Farm Bureau Issues Its National Ag Priorities

Here is a release from New York Farm Bureau:


New York Farm Bureau and its President, Dean Norton, unveiled the major priorities it will advocate for in Washington, D.C. this year.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference call this morning, NYFB outlined three key areas it is targeting including the passage of a new Farm Bill, substantial immigration reform that recognizes New York’s farm needs and funding for disaster assistance.

Norton said it is imperative to get a successful Farm Bill through both houses of Congress before the current extension expires in September. With no action once again, it will leave New York’s farmers in limbo unable to truly plan for the year ahead without knowing if adequate insurance programs will be in place or if conservation programs will be available to make the land more productive and improve environmental stewardship.

New York Farm Bureau is also concerned additional cuts could be made to the billions already trimmed from the 2012 Farm Bill that never made it to the House floor for a vote. While New York’s farmers are willing to do their part in reducing the country’s deficit, NYFB will work to protect its farmers from further unreasonable cuts in funding.

“We can’t afford to nickel and dime our way into food insecurity in this country.  The food supply and the people who grow it are worth the investment whether on the farm side of the Farm Bill or for the supplemental nutrition programs,” Norton said.

Norton highlighted some key programs in the Farm Bill that are especially important to New York farmers.

They include having a proper transition program to the new margin insurance dairy safety net being proposed that offers a more risk based approach to dealing with volatile milk and feed prices as opposed to the current Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program.

New York Farm Bureau also supports full funding for conservation programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Farmland Protection Program that assist farmers on being good stewards of the land.

Finally, there is strong support for new, enhanced specialty crop insurance programs. Many of these were negotiated into the unsuccessful 2012 Farm Bill, and NYFB will fight for their inclusion in a new bill during this Congress.

“This is so important for New York and our specialty crop growers,” said Norton. “We have very diverse crops in this state from fruits and vegetables to honey. You name it. We want to maintain that diversity in New York.”

New York Farm Bureau also is focusing its advocacy work in making sure New York’s farmers are represented in any immigration reform package that works its way through Washington.

NYFB is promoting changes that address both short- and long-term farm labor needs in this state. New York’s growing season is unique.  It is shorter than many states, especially those out west, and therefore demands some flexibility that may not be needed elsewhere.

However, the state’s dairy farmers do need a consistent workforce year round. It is imperative New York’s farmers have access to a steady, legal supply of employees.

“Immigration is a key issue for NY farms and employees and for consumers who want to continue to enjoy fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products,” said NYFB Public Policy Director Julie Suarez. “Without a stable workforce, food doesn’t get picked, cows don’t get milked and farms don’t have products to take to market.”

NYFB is pushing for a program that provides legitimate visa status for workers already here but may sometimes have questionable documentation and who are willing and able to do the work farmers depend on. These are workers who come from other countries for jobs that farmers try to fill first with local employees but are often unsuccessful.

These reforms should include both contract and non-contract options to assist in the flexibility that farmers and farmer workers need for labor protections, especially for the state’s fruit and vegetable growers.

Finally, during the conference call with reporters, New York Farm Bureau stressed the strong need to have properly funded disaster assistance programs in place. The hurricanes, frost, and drought New York farmers battled through the past two years demonstrated the devastating blows Mother Nature can deliver. However, the federal disaster assistance programs need to be more responsive and efficient in order to protect our farms and our food supply.  Washington must adequately fund the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Watershed Program

“As we saw with the great delays in Congress with Hurricane Sandy, sometimes funding is left to the whim of politics, and we would like to see a more reliable funding stream protecting the businesses, the farms and the communities that rely on disaster assistance after a storm or natural disaster,” said Kelly Young, NYFB’s Senior Associate Director of National Affairs.

In addition, NYFB supports the addition of tax free savings accounts at the federal level for farmers to pull from when they are in need.  The risk management tool will give farmers the incentive to save and allow them to be more self-reliant during the bad years. 

And NYFB is working with lawmakers to properly fund important disaster programs that offer assistance for the state’s tree growers and livestock farmers. The programs were included in the Farm Bill extension, but no money was appropriated, leaving many of New York’s farms with little protection should disaster strike yet again.

“New York Farm Bureau has strong relationships with members of our congressional delegations, and we will be working with both sides of the aisle to protect agriculture and the thousands of jobs it provides in this state,” Norton said.