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ASA to have safety net plan by week’s end

The major U.S. commodity groups are working on proposals for a reformed agriculture safety net. The American Soybean Association has not presented a plan yet but ASA President Alan Kemper says they’re working on it and will release recommendations later this week.

The National Corn Growers Association released one two weeks ago to the deficit reduction Super Committee and now major elements of their plan – replacing direct payments with a revenue-based system – are included in a bipartisan Senate Bill. The Cotton Council has also presented a plan that the NCGA says has “the same end goal” in mind.

Kemper, a soybean producer from Lafayette, Indiana says they will recommend changes to the Farm Bill that would “reallocate baseline funding to a revenue-based program that improves risk management and complements crop insurance.” Like the other commodity groups, Kemper says ASA wants the current crop insurance program to be protected from further cuts.

 

Kemper says there are a lot of similarities between the concepts in the legislation introduced by Senators Brown-Thune-Durbin-Lugar and the recommendations ASA has been considering.

Kemper says the ASA looks forward to working with both the Senate and House Ag Committees to develop a better safety net that “improves risk management and complements crop insurance.” The ASA board is holding a conference call to discuss recommendations this Thursday.