Subsidies
Since being confirmed on Feb. 13, Secretary Rollins has been in the Washington D.C., USDA office for a few hours. Most of her time has been spent visiting farmers, ranchers and ag businesses in Kentucky, Kansas and at Top Producer Summit.
“If we step back and look at what that means for farmland, we’re taking our energy production system from highly centralized production facilities and we have to distribute it,” says David Muth.
With pork producers facing prolonged economic headwinds, recent USDA commodity purchases of pork offer relief at pivotal times. It’s important to understand how these programs work, says NPPC president Lori Stevermer.
Some Republican House and Senate members have expressed their concerns to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, particularly regarding the new payment formula used for ERP in 2022.
Sens. Chuck Grassley and Sherrod Brown have introduced the Farm Program Integrity Act. It would create a cap of $250,000 in commodity support for a single farm operation and, potentially, some undesirable side effects.
A Senate Ag Committee hearing Thursday on the new farm bill raised a issue that is now evident: the Title 1 farm bill safety net can no longer deal with the current ag environment.
“It’s a mystery as to why the USDA began to hide the names of many recipients,” said Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs for the Environmental Working Group.
For example, Rep. Ralph Norman in the past unsuccessfully pushed crop insurance amendments that would have cut premium incentives/subsidies by 15% for producers with specified adjusted gross incomes.
Data released by USDA on Monday shows the farm share of the U.S. food dollar hit an all-time low in 2021. However, USDA says the decrease doesn’t necessarily mean producers are making less.
Phase 2 is targeted to those who suffered losses in 2020 and 2021 but may not have received any payments under Phase 1. With Phase 2 underway, USDA said that the signup deadline for Phase 1 ERP will now be Dec. 16.
Restaurants closing early. Sign after sign plastered along roadsides with businesses looking for help. The hiring issue is crippling everything from manufacturing to the restaurant industry today.
The House Ag Committee released their version of the 2018 farm bill on Thursday, which includes several changes to the Ag Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.