Agricultural News
House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas Looking for Producer Input on Farm Safety Net at Field Hearings
Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:56:08 CDT
This past friday, the House Agriculture Committee convened another in its series of field hearings on the new farm bill in Galesburg, Illinois. In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Frank Lucas said three facets of the upcoming legislation were of particular importance: a wide range of options for producers in the commodity title, improving crop insurance, simplifying the conservation program process for producers.
Lucas said the work on producing the farm bill has been extensive starting with field hearings in 2010. He said 11 policy audits last summer gave the committee a good foundation to understand where efficiencies could be improved. The Field Hearing in Illinois was the second of four field hearings he announced would be held in March and April.. The third of these hjearings are set for Arkansas this coming Friday, March 30th, while the final of the field hearings will be held in Dodge City, Kansas on April 20.
He said the challenge before the committee is to write a single farm bill that encompasses the needs of producers from every region of the country. With that challenge in mind, Lucas set out his general goals for the new farm bill.
"First and foremost: I want to give producers the tools to do what you do best-and that is to produce the safest, most abundant, most affordable food supply in the world. And to do this we must develop a farm bill that works for all regions and all commodities. We've repeatedly heard that a 'one-size-fits-all' program will not work. I can tell you from experience, what works well here in Illinois won't work well for my constituents in Oklahoma. So the commodity title must be a producer's option so they can choose the program which works best for them.
"I'm also committed to providing a strong crop insurance program. The committee has heard loud and clear about the importance of crop insurance and we believe it is the cornerstone of a safety net. Today we hope to hear how we can improve crop insurance.
"And, lastly, we'll work to ensure that producers can continue using conservation programs to protect our natural resources. I'm interested to hear how producers in this area of the country use the conservation programs. I'm particularly curious as to your thoughts on how to simplify the process so they are easier for farmers and ranchers to use."
Lucas said he is also greatly concerned about the difficulties forced on producers by federal programs. He said two issues of most concern to producers in Oklahoma have been the burden of complying with EPA regulations and difficulties the death task imposes on farming operations.
Testimony at the hearing was heard from producers in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota.
Lucas invited producers and concerned citizens to submit written testimony clicking here and scrolling down in the center column where it says Farm Bill feedback..
Click on the LISTEN BAR below for Congressman Lucas's full opening statement.
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