FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2015

Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106
[email protected]

The following resolution was adopted today by the National Farmers Union (NFU) Board of Directors, opposing changes to the Farm Bill through the 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act:

“The National Farmers Union Board of Directors calls upon the U.S. Congress to pass a fiscal year 2016 appropriations act which does not make changes to 2014 Farm Bill spending levels. The current farm bill is a five year agreement that should provide policy certainty to agriculture for its duration.

“We strongly object to any legislative changes reopening the law in any fashion. Such action would undermine certainty at a time when farm income is rapidly eroding. USDA has forecasted a decline for the second consecutive year. Net farm income is expected to fall to $55.9 billion for 2015, which would be a decline of 54.7 percent over the past two years.

“Congress has attempted to reopen the farm bill four times this year. The NFU Board of Directors strongly opposes such action and calls on Congress to allow the safety net to operate as designed for the benefit of agriculture and rural America.”

Upon passage of the resolution, NFU President Roger Johnson stated that, “Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, farm leaders, family farmers and ranchers invested years of hard work and compromise that finally lead to the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill. This farm bill was meant to provide five years of policy certainty and adequate risk management tools for farmers and ranchers who face increasingly volatile markets and weather conditions.”

National Farmers Union has been working since 1902 to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family farmers, ranchers and rural communities through advocating grassroots-driven policy positions adopted by its membership.

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