Senate Agriculture Committee Approves Farm Bill with Broad Bipartisan Support 

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today voted overwhelmingly to approve the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013, a bipartisan Farm Bill authored by Committee Chairwoman Senator Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Senator Thad Cochran. The Committee voted in favor of the bill on a 15-5 vote. 

The bill includes major reform in food and agricultural policy by ending direct payments and transitioning to responsible risk management tools that support farmers only when they have been impacted by disaster, saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Overall, the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 will yield a total of over $23 billion dollars in spending cuts by eliminating unnecessary subsidies, consolidating programs to end duplication, and combating misuse and fraud in food assistance programs. These reforms allow for the strengthening of key initiatives that help farmers and small businesses reach new markets and create American jobs. The measure will now go to the full Senate for consideration.

"Reforming agriculture programs will save taxpayers billions of dollars while helping farmers, ranchers and small businesses create American jobs," Stabenow said. "Because the Agriculture Committee worked across party lines to streamline programs, we were able to save tax dollars while investing in initiatives that help boost exports, help family farmers sell locally and spur innovations in new bio-manufacturing and bio-energy industries." 

Click here for more of this story and a link to the text of the full Senate farm bill.  

Broad, positive reactions were quickly forthcoming from special interest groups pleased with yesterday's passage of the 2013 farm bill out of the Senate Agriculture Committee.  Various commodity and conservation groups applauded the bipartisan action of the committee and urged swift passage of the bill on the Senate floor.

American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman said, "The Senate Agriculture Committee today put the farm bill on a solid road toward success. By following a bipartisan path and approving its farm bill legislation, the committee moved the farm bill forward with provisions that work well for America's farm and ranch families. We are especially pleased that this bill places a high priority on crop insurance as a risk management tool and that it also offers a measure of flexibility through safety net options beyond crop insurance."

National Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson urged the House Agriculture Committee which begins work on its markup today, to work quickly.

"While we understand this is the first step in a very long process, we applaud the Senate Ag Committee for completing their bill and are encouraged that the House Agriculture Committee will swiftly follow suit."

The Izaak Walton Leaugue commended Senators for their work on the bill, saying the measure will help preserve grasslands. 

"The bill adopted by the Senate Agriculture Committee advances the League's conservation priorities on multiple fronts," says League Agriculture Program Director Bill Wenzel. "By adopting a nationwide Sodsaver program, the bill will help conserve grassland habitat critical to wildlife and will save taxpayer dollars. The bill also takes a critical first step toward reconnecting conservation standards for soil and wetlands with crop insurance premium subsidies."

Click on the name of the group below to read their reaction to Senate committee passage of the farm bill:

American Farm Bureau

American Farmland Trust

Growth Energy

Izaak Walton League

National Cattlemen's Beef Association

National Corn Growers Association

National Wildlife Federation

Soybean Growers Association

Conservation Compliance Coalition 

National Cotton Council

25X25 Alliance

US Cattlemen

National Sorghum Producers  

NCFC President Feels Confident Farm Bill Will Pass Sometime this Summer

Chuck Conner, president of the National Council of Farmers Cooperatives, said the fact that both the House and Senate are marking up their respective farm bills this week is extremely encouraging.

"This week marks a milestone along the way in the long overdue process of passing a new, five-year farm bill. Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Cochran in the Senate, and Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Peterson in the House, are to be commended for their swift action in moving the farm bill process forward this spring."

The process took another step forward Tuesday afternoon as the Senate Agriculture Committee finished its work and voted to move their bill out of committee.

Conner spoke with me in Washington, D.C.,  and said he believes Congressional leaders have finally gotten the message that producers wanted a five-year farm bill and now was the time to get it done.

"They've dedicated themselves to try and produce a bill in the House and in the Senate acceptable to all regions of the country. I think that's giving them a lit bit more motivation as well to get it done.

"All in all, you've got to believe with the markup of both the House and Senate this week that there's a very, very good chance we're going to get a five-year bill done sometime over the course of this summer."

You can listen to my interview with Chuck Conner or read more of this story by clicking here.  

Farm Bill Follies- Plus the Urgency of Staying COOL 

I have a three more items from our coverage here from Washington, DC that I wanted to lump together and provide links for you on this Wednesday morning-

More than one speaker has remarked how lucky our farm broadcast group was to be in Washington this week- and with all of the stuff going oin- especially with both Ag Committees marking up their versions of farm policy for the next five years- they are probably right- but it's definitely drinking from a fire hose- I have an audio overview of things we have seen and heard here in DC as it relates to the 2013 Farm Bill- and with thanks to both Ken Root of Iowa and Mike Hergert of North Dakota- I was able to be in more than one place at once a couple of times on Tuesday- click here to take a listen to our Senate Ag Committee Getting It Done Edition of Farm Bill Follies- complete  with lots of audio from several different players.

Staying with the Senate Ag Committee for one amendment that did not make the final cut- we focus on a measure offered and then withdrawn by Seantor Mike Johanns of Nebraska that would have repealed mandatory COOL- click here for our coverage with audio from Johanns as well as Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss on the need to dump COOL.

ALSO FROM TUESDAY- Tuesday morning- we spent our time at USDA hearing from several officials across the spectrum- and that included the big guy himself- US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.  During our Q&A with the Secretary- I used my question time with him to explore where USDA is on COOL- and that resulted in our Wednesday edition of the Beef Buzz- click here to get an update on USDA's efforts to meet the WTO deadline with a revised COOL rule.

Sorghum Producers Applaud House Agriculture Committee Ahead of Today's Farm Bill Markup

National Sorghum Producers commends the direction taken by the House Agriculture Committee in developing a comprehensive farm bill that contains the risk management tools necessary to serve as the new cornerstone for future farm policy.

The text of the bill released May 10 indicates crop insurance will be protected and strengthened, and producers will have the opportunity to choose the commodity title policy option that best fits their farm and provides minimum price protection-all components NSP has strongly advocated for from the beginning of this process.

"The National Sorghum Producers commends the House Agriculture Committee's bipartisan commitment to strong U.S. farm policy and to our nation's farmers and ranchers," said Terry Swanson, NSP chairman. "We look forward to helping House committee members this week during the markup and to see the farm bill through to its completion."

USDA Announces Conservation Reserve Program Sign-Up

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today reminded farmers and ranchers that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct a four-week Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up beginning May 20 and ending on June 14. Vilsack also announced the restart of sign-up for continuous CRP, including the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement Initiative, the Highly Erodible Land Initiative, the Grassland Restoration Initiative, the Pollinator Habitat Initiative and other related initiatives. Sign-up for continuous CRP began on May 13 and will continue through Sept. 30, 2013.

"As always, we expect strong competition to enroll acres into CRP, and we urge interested producers to maximize their environmental benefits and to make cost-effective offers," said Vilsack. "CRP is an important program for protecting environmentally sensitive lands from erosion and sedimentation, and for ensuring the sustainability of our groundwater, lakes, rivers, ponds and streams. Through the voluntary participation of our farmers and ranchers, CRP helps us to protect our natural resources, preserve wildlife habitat and bring good paying jobs to rural America related to hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation.

Vilsack encouraged producers to look into CRP's other enrollment opportunities offered on a continuous, non-competitive, sign-up basis.

Click here for more on this story.
 

Big Iron Sale Day Reminder 

Later this morning, the items that will be selling this week on Big Iron will star closing- first closing of items begins at 10 AM central time. A total of 343 items are being offered this week on the Big Iron auction site.

Mike Wolfe is the district manager for Big Iron- and we had a chance to visit with him recently about how Big Iron works for the buyer and for the seller- and you can listen to our visit with Mike and learn more about Big Iron by clicking here.