News

AFBF president says Senate farm bill couldn’t have come at better time

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall says the passage of the Senate Farm Bill couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Farm income is down about 52 percent over the past five years, we’re having some threats of tariffs being raised and having trade war which is making the markets very reactive to the negative for our farmers,” he says.

He tells Brownfield that it’s critical a farm bill is passed on time before the current bill expires at the end of September.

“If we can solve the farm bill problem, and get the farm bill passed, that’s one piece of that storm we won’t have to face while we work through these other challenges,” he says.

Duvall says AFBF is pleased crop insurance was maintained in both the House and Senate versions.

“It is the cornerstone of the farm bill and it is the main risk management took that our farmers use,” he says.

He says there were some provisions added to the Senate farm bill that will make it more difficult for farmers to get risk management tools. But, Duvall says he is confident that will be addressed by the House and Senate conference committees.

Audio: Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation