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AFBF says direct payments need to stay

The American Farm Bureau Federation board of directors says it does not agree with proposals to completely do away with direct payments. A paper released by AFBF Thursday says although direct payments should be scaled back, they do not believe they should be eliminated as part of the risk management tools that farmers use now.

AFBF’s Mary Kay Thatcher says they suggest that 90% of farm program cuts “be evenly divided on a percentage basis among commodity, conservation, and nutrition programs and 10 percent be cut from the crop insurance program.” Thatcher says it’s important that the House and Senate ag committees write the 2012 Farm Bill programs and don’t leave it up to the deficit reduction Super Committee to decide how and where cuts will be made.

The American Soybean Association proposed a plan Thursday to reduce the budget by replacing direct and counter cyclical payment programs with a new risk management program they say would fill the gap between crop insurance payments and expected farm revenue. The ASA plan is similar to that of the National Corn Growers Association and National Cotton Council in being revenue-based and in doing away with direct and related payments.

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