What started off two and half years ago as an attempt to craft a Farm Bill with bold deficit reductions in mind became the new North star of U.S. agriculture policy last week when President Obama signed The Agriculture Act of 2014 into law at Michigan State University.<\/p>\n
The law marks a dramatic turning point in American farm policy, with the sun setting of the 18-year old system direct payments \u2013 which cost more than $4.5 billion annually \u2013 accompanied by a renewed emphasis and commitment to crop insurance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not your father\u2019s Farm Bill,\u201d said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow. \u201cFrom now on, farmers will protect themselves from disaster with risk management programs like crop insurance,\u201d she said. \u201cInstead of getting a government check even in good times, farmers will pay an insurance bill every year and will only receive support from that insurance in years when they take a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill won immediate praise from national farm groups as soon as it emerged from the conference committee in late January. National Association of Wheat Growers President Bing Von Bergen said the bill \u201c strengthens crop insurance and allows growers the necessary safety net to keep a secure, affordable and healthy food supply.<\/p>\n
The sorghum industry issued a statement underscoring their strong support for the bill and applauded the $24 billion it would save taxpayers. \u201cThis legislation meets [National Sorghum Producer\u2019s] goals in providing farmers with a number of risk management tools, strengthening and protecting crop insurance, and including strong conservation and energy titles,\u201d said Chairman J.B. Stewart.<\/p>\n
The crop insurance industry applauded the years of hard work by both chambers and noted that it was looking forward to working with the Risk Management Agency on implementation of the law. \u201cWith one bold stroke of the pen, the President charted a new course for U.S. farm policy, sun-setting the policies of yesterday and putting greater emphasis on farmers\u2019 use of crop insurance,\u201d the industry noted in a nationally-released written statement.<\/p>\n
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack noted the bill \u201cwill allow the proud men and women who feed millions around the world to invest confidently in the future,\u201d adding, \u201cthis legislation is important to the entire nation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What started off two and half years ago as an attempt to craft a Farm Bill with bold deficit reductions in mind became the new North star of U.S. agriculture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":5163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-farm-policy","category-news","category-whats-cropping-up"],"yoast_head":"\n