WASHINGTON, D.C. — The support structure for farmers built into the farm bill is under review. Last week’s meeting on commodity policy and crop insurance was one in a series the U.S. House Agriculture Committee is conducting over the next few months to make changes for the 2018 farm bill.

 

The 2014 farm bill was passed when agriculture was doing well, reaching record high prices for some commodities. Beginning shortly after, prices have fallen across the board. “Commodity prices are in the tank across the board and have been for several years. Net farm income has fallen 50 percent in four years, the steepest decline since the Great Depression,” said Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), chair of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.

 

“It is times like these when getting farm policy right is critical for farmers and ranchers.” He said the policies in place have worked well, in general, but some changes could make the farm safety net work better.

 

Cotton was left out of the commodity title program in the last farm bill and has been held up as an example of how the most recent farm bill has failed farmers. Ronnie Lee, chair of the National Cotton Council, said the policies and protections offered under the current bill work well for his other crops, but not for cotton.

 

He said the cotton policy in the  last farm bill was in response to a World Trade Organization challenge brought by Brazil. Congress removed cotton from using other policies for protection and provided Stacked Income Protection Plan, or STAX, but it is not providing adequate coverage. “We strongly believe we need a cottonseed policy in place to help provide support to our producers as a bridge until the new farm bill is enacted,” Lee explained.

 

Farmers need the programs in the farm bill and the bill’s budget needs to be left intact, not decreased as has been suggested, he said. He called for a greater investment in the farm bill. “It is imperative that the next farm bill brings cotton back into the Title I commodity policy so that cotton is able to access the same full complement of risk management tools as other crops,” he added.

 

Robert Rynning, president of the U.S. Canola Assoc., and on behalf of the National Sunflower Assoc., agreed more funding needs to be provided to protect farmers. He said both organizations support the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs, with support payments tied to historical crop bases and the ability to choose between crops. “Prices for both (canola and sunflowers) have fallen 40 percent from their peak and both crops have received payments from the 2014 farm bill,” he said.

 

Initially, sunflower payments from the farm bill was less due to price premiums, but those prices fell during the last year, and payments on all sunflower variations are expected to increase. “Beyond the healthy oil both these crops supply, as well as the high-quality canola meal used to supplement dairy herd rations, canola and sunflowers also provide needed quality habitat for honeybees as well as wild pollinators,” Rynning said.