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NFU holding out hope for more Farm Bill dollars

The president of the National Farmers Union is calling on Congress to look beyond the budget baseline to provide farmers a more robust safety net.

Roger Johnson says the House and Senate Ag Committees are working with no new money as they write a Farm Bill at a time when commodity prices are 40 to 50 percent lower than when the last bill was written.

“So the need for a safety net is much more acute today than it was four years ago when the last Farm Bill was passed.”

Despite neither the House or Senate farm bills containing additional funds, Johnson tells Brownfield rising political pressure on Congress could open up the purse strings.

“There’s always a way to respond.  So far, the response seems to be from Secretary Perdue saying he’s looking at CCC (Commodity Credit Corporation) authority to do some sort of ad hoc playment.  Almost nobody likes that idea.”

Given a choice, Johnson suggests both chambers of Congress would prefer a stronger safety net over ad hoc payments.

He says lawmakers must be faced with that choice, and to acknowledge farmers need help dealing with low farm incomes and trade disruptions.