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Johnson to Capitol Hill to lobby for farm bill

National Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson is in Washington, D.C. urging lawmakers to get a five-year farm bill passed. Specifically, Johnson tells Brownfield that the organization advocates for a risk management tool that complements crop insurance in a multi-year program. Some growers want federal farm policy to include a target price.

“If a target price program is part of the package for the next farm bill, then for sure we feel very strongly that target prices are decoupled from planted acres and are on base acres so that we don’t go back to having planting distortions,” Johnson told Brownfield Wednesday from the National Corn Growers Association Office in Washington, D.C.

Johnson, a Northwest Iowa corn grower, says her visits have more impact if, while growers wait for the soil to warm up and dry out, they actually take some time to help do the lobbying.

“If you’ve got a couple of minutes, now’s a great time to be calling your congressman and your senator and letting them know how important it is to get a farm bill this year and how important crop insurance is to you,” said Johnson.

The Capitol switchboard can be reached at 202-224-3121.

AUDIO: Pam Johnson on farm bill (4 min. MP3)

  • its time farmers stood on their own two feet and farm the land instead of the goverment.
    I say quit throwing money at the farmers. It causes fraud and greed. Some of the fraud is starting to show up in audits if all the farmers were audited, the farmers who cheated the goverment (taxpayers)
    should have to pay back all the fraud money plus interest. and put in jail just like embesalment.

  • April 18, 2013 Support the Farm Bill and programs. You can Email or write to your Senate and Representative. Then call the congressional switchboard at (202)-224-3121 to connect to your Senators and Representatives. On September 30, Congress made history by allowing the farm bill to expire, and put an extesion on it instead. Farm programs and several other conservation programs will be in jeopardy. These include:
    * Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Program Transition Incentive Program.
    * Farmers Market Promotion Program.
    * National Organic Certification Cost Share Program.
    * Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative.
    * Outreach and Assistance to Socially Disadvantage Farmers and Ranchers.
    * Rural Energy for America Program(REAP).
    * Rural Milk Entrepeneur Assistance Program.
    * Specialty Crop Research Assistance Program.
    * Valu-Added Producer Grants(VAPE).
    The message is simple: “Don’t walk away from the Family Farmers and Ranchers, pass the 2012 Farm Bill and fully fund farm bill programs for disaster aid, conservation, beginning farmers, local food, organic agriculture, and rural jobs that Create Jobs in rural communities, help farmers sieze market opportunties, and invest in the next generation of farmers. Please share with everyone you know. Spread the word. Support the Farm Bill today. Thank you.

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