Postponed FARRM bill looks promising for local farmers

The U.S Senate returned to session June 3 to tackle the Farm Bill, also know as the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act of 2013.

The $500 billion 5-year bill allocates funding for nutrition programs, such as food stamps, as well as government subsidies and assistance programs for American farmers.

Last year, Congress failed to pass a farm bill opting instead to extend the 2008 bill until Sept. 30 of 2013.  

Now, both bodies of Congress are in a hurry to craft a workable piece of legislation before the new deadline.

The House Committee on Agriculture passed its version of the bill on May 15, which eliminates direct payments to farmers of certain crops, such as peanuts, but expands preexisting crop insurance programs.

“I am proud of the work Chairman Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson put in to help create a much needed Farm Bill for our nation’s farmers,” Rep. Martha Roby said in May 16 press release. “By consolidating duplicative programs, cutting waste and reforming the nutrition title, this bill meets our country’s agriculture needs while also including past due conservative reforms.”

Those conservative reforms came in the form of a $20.5 billion cut in the food stamp program and a $9 billion expansion to crop insurance spending over the next decade.

As a Member of the House Committee on Agriculture, Roby was able to secure two major inclusions in the new Farm Bill including a provision preventing illegal immigrants from fraudulently obtaining federally subsidized food stamps.

Roby also added provision reducing the amount of land allowed into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), restricting the increasingly-frequent practice of paying landowners to let fertile cropland go unplanted for years, which is then often used to timber production.

According to the Alabama Peanut Producers, the most recent mark up of the House Bill raises the reference price of peanuts per ton up to $535, which is $40 more than 2008’s $495 floor price.

If the price of peanuts per ton falls under $535 the farmer will get the difference for each ton sold.

Though the bill is currently on the floor for debate in the Senate, several portions of it have been approved including U.S Sen. Jeff Sessions’ amendment 945, which lifted restrictions to Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP).

In a press release earlier this month, Sessions released the following statement on the changes to AWEP:

“Expanding irrigation in Alabama will help protect against drought and can also dramatically increase agricultural production in the state, which is why I supported the creation of the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) several years ago,” Sessions said. “However, USDA currently limits AWEP to farms that have been irrigated previously—a requirement that prevents most Alabama farmers from being eligible for this useful program.”

Less than 5 percent of farm acres are irrigated in Alabama.

“My amendment, which was accepted by unanimous agreement in the Senate (May 21) eliminates this unwarranted restriction and will help ensure that more Alabama farmers are eligible for USDA irrigation assistance programs,” Sessions said.