Farm Bureau statement on House defeat of farm bill

The American Farm Bureau Federation is highly disappointed the House did not complete work on the 2013 farm bill, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013. It was a balanced bill that would have provided much needed risk management tools and a viable economic safety net for America’s farmers and ranchers

I’m very disappointed. Agriculture has cut about everything they can. For the 2013 Farm Bill, farmers and ranchers had agreed to move away from subsidies and assume more risk through crop insurance at less cost to the taxpayer.

The only thing I now see that will be facing major cuts are the nutrition assistance programs which actually receive the majority of the farm bill funding. We do want to thank Congressman Steve Daines for voting “yea” on the bill and showing his support for Montana’s farmers and ranchers.

We commend House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas, ,R-Okla., and ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., for their commitment and hard work in bringing the bill to the floor and working toward its passage. We look forward to working with them as we regroup and move forward. We also appreciate House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, for working with the Agriculture Committee leadership to bring the bill to the floor.

A completed farm bill is much needed to provide farmers and ranchers certainty for the coming years and to allow the Agriculture Department to plan for an orderly implementation of the bill’s provisions.

Bob Hanson is the president of the Montana Farm Bureau.