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Redwood Falls, Minn. —
The 2008 Food, Conservation and Energy Act, known as the federal farm bill, is up for review, and its future was the topic of a forum this past Tuesday at Farmfest. A panel made up of local ag leaders was on hand to talk about their perspective on the bill as it exists now and how they think it is going to change the next time around.
While most agree a leave-things-as they-are approach would be ideal, the reality is that is not going to happen.
“Budget factors will make it impossible to make a carbon copy of the 2008 Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 known as the 2008 Farm Bill,” said Paap. “The concepts could be continued, but farmers need to be aware that the money is not available to fully fund each of the programs.
“Thirty-seven programs across 12 titles of the 2008 Farm Bill do not have funding beyond 2012.”
Dave Ladd, a policy analyst and president of RDL & Associates, LLC said he thinks the new farm bill is going to have much more of an emphasis on risk management, such as crop insurance rather than focusing on direct payments.
Chris Clayton, a policy analyst and editor of DTN, said he thinks one of the issues that is going to have a major impact on the farm bill is demographics. He said with a significant number of ag committee members representing the south, such as Texas and Oklahoma, he thinks direct payments may still be a big part of the farm bill. That is true especially this year as states such as Texas face one of the worst droughts in more than 30 years.
An issue Doug Peterson, Farmers Union president, raised was an issue of perception in the nation. Many members of the public believe farmers are doing well financially and they don’t need the subsidies offered in the farm bill.
Peterson added there is a lack of education amongst the public, as it does not, for the most part, realize the farm bill includes so much more than just farm programs.
In fact, he said programs such as nutrition make up much more of the farm bill than farm programs do.
Paap said the first farm bill was implemented in 1972 and at that time it made up less than 4 percent of the federal budget. Today it makes up 4.3 percent of the budget and it faces the potential of major cuts as Congress balances the budget.
The 2008 Food, Conservation and Energy Act, known as the federal farm bill, is up for review, and its future was the topic of a forum this past Tuesday at Farmfest. A panel made up of local ag leaders was on hand to talk about their perspective on the bill as it exists now and how they think it is going to change the next time around.
While most agree a leave-things-as they-are approach would be ideal, the reality is that is not going to happen.
“Budget factors will make it impossible to make a carbon copy of the 2008 Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 known as the 2008 Farm Bill,” said Paap. “The concepts could be continued, but farmers need to be aware that the money is not available to fully fund each of the programs.
“Thirty-seven programs across 12 titles of the 2008 Farm Bill do not have funding beyond 2012.”
Dave Ladd, a policy analyst and president of RDL & Associates, LLC said he thinks the new farm bill is going to have much more of an emphasis on risk management, such as crop insurance rather than focusing on direct payments.
Chris Clayton, a policy analyst and editor of DTN, said he thinks one of the issues that is going to have a major impact on the farm bill is demographics. He said with a significant number of ag committee members representing the south, such as Texas and Oklahoma, he thinks direct payments may still be a big part of the farm bill. That is true especially this year as states such as Texas face one of the worst droughts in more than 30 years.
An issue Doug Peterson, Farmers Union president, raised was an issue of perception in the nation. Many members of the public believe farmers are doing well financially and they don’t need the subsidies offered in the farm bill.
Peterson added there is a lack of education amongst the public, as it does not, for the most part, realize the farm bill includes so much more than just farm programs.
In fact, he said programs such as nutrition make up much more of the farm bill than farm programs do.
Paap said the first farm bill was implemented in 1972 and at that time it made up less than 4 percent of the federal budget. Today it makes up 4.3 percent of the budget and it faces the potential of major cuts as Congress balances the budget.
