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Hearing: Farm Bill for the down times

The theme of a hearing on Capitol Hill this week centered on the Farm Bill’s importance during down times.

Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz, the ranking member of the subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, said lawmakers “write the farm bill for the bad times, not for the good”, adding that “when commodity prices are down, livestock prices can be up and vice-versa.”

He said the financial health of agriculture is greatly influenced by external factors – such as weather disasters and disease – which has a ripple effect across rural communities.

Minnesota Farm Bureau president Kevin Paap testified that farmers “are restructuring their debt to stretch out capital payments and more producers are turning to USDA’s Farm Service Agency loans.”