Farmers Union critiques federal farm bill

The markup of the 2013 Farm Bill by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry moved quickly through its process and provides a good framework to proceed, in conjunction with the work done on the House side, for a decent Farm Bill for Montana’s agriculture producers.

We are glad the Senate Ag Committee included mandatory funding for the energy title, and also funded most of the programs that were either not authorized or authorized but not funded in the bill extension of last year.

Country-of-origin labeling is very important to Montana Farmers Union members, and we were glad to see a Senate amendment that would have eliminated COOL for livestock and poultry withdrawn.

Regarding the work of the House, MFU supports proposed provisions to the conservation title that will combine some programs and make them more efficient. We also support the included commodity title disaster support measures.

On the other hand, MFU believes that the House amendment that repeals certain Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration protections for farmers is a huge step in the wrong direction. Further, we are disappointed that no mandatory funding for renewable energy programs was included.

Finally, the long-term certainty provided by a multi-year bill is critical for family farmers and ranchers to make necessary management and planning decisions, and I encourage Montana’s Congressional delegation to continue working to pass a bill that works for Montana’s family farmers, ranchers and consumers.

Alan Merrill is the president of the Montana Farmers Union.