Agricultural News
National Farmers Union says completion of the Farm Bill in 2012 is necessary
Mon, 23 May 2011 9:12:41 CDT National Farmers Union (NFU) led a coalition of seventeen organizations in sending a letter to U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Agriculture Committee leadership requesting that the next farm bill be completed in 2012.
"The difficulty associated with crafting such a comprehensive bill has led three consecutive farm bills (1995, 2002 and 2007) to be finished after the previous legislation expired," the letter said. "During this time of budget concerns and federal deficits, waiting until 2013 to complete the next farm bill would likely negatively impact the baseline needed to write a bill that would effectively deliver the programs under its jurisdiction."
Several programs from the 2008 Farm Bill have spent less than projected. The projected cost of the commodities program from 2008 to 2012 was $41.6 billion. The new projected total cost for those five years is $32 billion.
"Many programs enacted by the most recent farm bill have spent less than was projected," said NFU President Roger Johnson. "NFU has always held the position that agriculture is willing to cut our share to bring down the federal deficit, but we can't balance the budget with disproportionate cuts to agriculture spending. To do so is irresponsible and damaging to America's future."
Click here to view the letter sent to the House Agriculture Committee
Click here to view the letter sent to the Senate Agriculture Committee
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