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Next Farm Bill needs adequate safety net

A U.S. Senator from Minnesota is among farm-state lawmakers who say the next Farm Bill must include an adequate safety net for producers.

Al Franken tells Brownfield the current Farm Bill was written when commodity prices were much higher.

“This idea of what happens when you hit these very low prices and how to protect people…I think that’s going to be an area that we’re focused on.”

He says dairy farmers are telling him the Margin Protection Program isn’t working and needs to be fixed.

“I talked to (USDA) Secretary Vilsack, who bought about $20 million dollars in cheese to help the market a little bit.  But the cyclical nature has always been there.  We’ve got to make sure that in these times of cycles that farmers can keep farming.”

Franken does not serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee, but is on the Energy Committee and co-authored the Rural Energy for America Program as part of the 2014 Farm Bill.