American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Bob Stallman submitted a letter to the Senate on June 4 applauding the Senate Agriculture Committee’s version of the 2012 Farm Bill but also suggesting additions to improve the bill.
“While the legislation addresses many Farm Bureau policy priorities, it is Farm Bureau’s sincere hope there will be additional opportunities to make adjustments and refinements to improve this legislation,” Stallman wrote.
Stallman praised the Senate version’s commitment to hold firm at $23 billion in cuts over 10 years, strengthen the federal crop insurance program, develop a commodity title based on market signals and refrain from a program based on cost of production. However, the organization’s policy also encourages further revision.
“Fundamentally, Farm Bureau continues to support a single program option for the commodity title that extends to all crops. Farm Bureau believes the safety net should be comprised of a strong crop insurance program, with continuation of the marketing loan program and a catastrophic revenue loss program based on county level losses for each crop,” Stallman noted. “Farm Bureau is confident its approach can easily be tailored to provide a safety net that meets regional and commodity differences while also meeting the established savings target.”