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Stabenow says more farm bill priorities are coming
The Chair of the Senate Ag Committee says she plans to release more priority areas for the next farm bill soon.
Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow tells Brownfield her first letter in mid-January to lawmakers was only focused on possible crop insurance improvements.
“There’s a lot more to the bill and so I will be releasing other areas,” she says. “We know that marketing loans are important, we know that research is important, obviously trade.”
She says agriculture research needs more funding and may have to look to sources from outside of the farm bill, like the National Science Foundation.
“I think whether it’s mechanization, whether it’s dealing with international pesticide challenges or just dealing with new kinds of technology, there’s more that needs to be done,” she says.
Stabenow says her earlier proposals offered options to lower crop insurance premiums for more commodities and increase reference prices up to 15 percent for most crops with a price accelerator.
And she tells Brownfield, “What I’d like to look at is those who don’t, and how we can create something where they can?”
Stabenow says she remains supportive of local purchases and markets but opposes taking any funds from food assistance for other subsidies.
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