News

Minnesota Farmfest holds Farm Bill listening session

Farmers at Minnesota Farmfest told leaders of the House Agriculture Committee how much their farms depend on federal policy. Chairman Mike Conaway, Ranking Member Collin Peterson, and others on the committee took notes and at times applauded as dozens of Farmfest attendees talked about risk management tools, enhancing trade, and the importance of keeping the nutrition program in the next Farm Bill.

First-generation dairy farmer Sadie Frerichs of Melrose, Minnesota says a strong safety net is imperative for her family because they don’t have generations of equity to fall back on, “So that’s why we were really excited when the Margin Protection Program was rolled out. We strongly support a program that is based on both milk revenue and feed prices. Unfortunately, the Margin Protection Program isn’t working.”

Frerichs asked the Committee to make MPP more affordable and to provide better coverage. West-central Minnesota farmer Noah Hultgren emphasized the importance of crop insurance, “We had a whole 80 of corn that got hailed out. If we didn’t have crop insurance we wouldn’t be able to survive. We needed that to break even, possibly, so we can farm again.”