WASHINGTON – National Farmers Union (NFU) President Rob Larew issued the following statement reacting to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry’s discussion draft of the farm bill.
“We appreciate Chairman Boozman and the committee for their commitment to a bipartisan farm bill and their openness to continued negotiations. While the bill includes meaningful improvements, it needs to go further to meet the scale of the crisis facing family farmers and ranchers across this country.
“What we need is a true safety net that moves away from ad hoc assistance, keeps pace with rising production costs and delivers real stability in the marketplace. That means strengthening and modernizing core farm programs to reflect today’s economic realities and withstand tomorrow’s shocks. It means building a dedicated structure and funding stream for disaster assistance that is fast, consistent and doesn’t require farmers to wait on Congress to act. These reforms would give farmers more predictable risk management tools, reduce uncertainty and end the cycle of repeated emergency interventions.
“We urge the committee to go further on priorities that matter to farmers and consumers: mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat and poultry, year-round nationwide E15, local food procurement funding, and stronger Packers and Stockyards Act enforcement.
“If we don’t take decisive action now, we risk losing the next generation of farmers and ranchers. NFU will continue working with the committee and the full Congress to fight for the long-term, structural changes farm country deserves.”
NFU last month sent a letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee and congressional leadership outlining what’s at stake for family farmers and ranchers if Congress fails to reform the farm safety net.
