Some good news this week in the US - we finally have a Farm Bill to work with.
With the elimination of direct payments, creation of ARC, and updates to crop insurance, the new Farm Bill mark-up clearly moves agriculture's safety net towards risk management.
A new farm bill that saves over $23 billion over 10 years means there were some major cuts. It appears conservation programs took a big hit, consolidating 23 programs down to 13 programs.
The bill was passed by a 16-5 vote and four of the five "No" votes came from southern republican senators who did not vote to send the bill to the full Senate because of the negative repercussions for the cotton, rice and peanut programs.
Texas Representative Mike Conaway made his view clear - that the Farm Bill is "so lopsided and discriminatory against certain producers, regions and crops" that it will be difficult to pass.
"Especially ill-served are producers of wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, and even corn and soybeans where they farm areas with any production risk. This bill was specially designed for a crop or two grown in one region of the country and it will not become law. Today was a big step backward in completing a Farm Bill this year," he said.
There is one thing that the industry and politicians seems to agree on - agriculture has stepped up and made a more than proportionate contribution to the US deficit reduction. Now we'll see if others follow their lead.
Also, don't forget that this is a draft Farm Bill (or what's called a mark-up). It must now be considered by the full Senate, then reconciled with a House version of the bill, which must be passed by the House Agriculture Committee and the full House and signed by the President. So... the US has got a long way to go to get to the finish line.
To read more about the 2012 Farm Bill, click here.
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