Last week, House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson released the House farm bill draft ahead of the Committee’s markup scheduled for this Thursday.
In response, Farm Action Fund released the following statement which can be attributed to Joe Maxwell, Farm Action Fund President and Missouri farmer:
“This House farm bill will only help the big get bigger off the backs of America’s taxpayers. Under existing farm bill programs, the latest Census of Agriculture confirmed a continued decline in the number of small and mid-sized farms while the largest food and agricultural corporations are gaining greater power — this House farm bill would only reinforce the policies that got us here.
“The House Agriculture Committee needs to go back to the drawing board. Farm Action Fund urges Congress to free itself from the undue influence of corporate special interests and deliver a farm bill that works for America’s farmers, ranchers, and everyone who eats.”
While the House farm bill does include a handful of policies Farm Action Fund recommended, such as measures to increase the transparency and accuracy of foreign farmland ownership data; support for 1890 land-grant universities; certain specialty crop investments and local food promotion; and improved credit access for new, young, beginning, and veteran farmers; the bad outweighs the good.
Farm Action Fund is particularly concerned with the House bill’s measures that increase subsidies for major commodities by raising crop insurance limits for the largest farms, introduce an inflation adjustment for the subsidy ceiling, and increase reference prices for commodities. These measures are an inefficient use of resources that will primarily benefit the largest operators and corporate input suppliers at the expense of the small, mid-size, and independent farmers who need support the most.
Critically, the House bill fails to deliver checkoff program reform, and contains a version of the partisan, highly controversial Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act which would eliminate important market opportunities for independent farmers and infringe on state and local rights.
Details on Farm Action Fund’s farm bill priorities can be found here.
Media Contact: Jessica Cusworth, jcusworth@farmactionfund.us, 202-450-0887
