June 12, 2013
www.gfb.org
Vol. 31 No. 24
SENATE PASSES ITS VERSION OF 2013 FARM BILL On June 10 the Senate passed its version of the 2013 farm bill, which would authorize farm programs for the next five years. The bill, titled the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013, passed by a 66-27 vote. Both Georgia senators voted in favor. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and cosponsored by Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), provides a target price safety net for peanuts and rice. The absence of those provisions in part led Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson to vote against last year’s bill. “I am confident this bill adequately addresses the various needs and interests between commodities and regions,” said Chambliss. “I urge the House to pass their bill in a timely manner, so we may go to conference before the current extension expires in September. Farmers deserve certainty, so they may plan for the future and focus on doing what they do best: producing the highest quality agricultural products in the world.” According to the Senate Agriculture Committee, the bill lays out two new crop insurance programs, the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) program and the Adverse Market Payments (AMP) program. The committee release indicated that ARC allows farmers to choose between coverage at the individual farm level or at the county level. Payments to farmers will be available only when actual losses are experienced off of a market-based historic benchmark. AMP provides payments to farmers only when prices drop below a reference price. These payments are made on historic base acres rather than production, thereby minimizing the program’s influence on farmers’ decisions on what and where to plant. In order to be eligible for ARC and AMP, all farmers must agree to comply with conservation and wetlands requirements. The Senate farm bill includes the stacked income protection plan (STAX) for cotton producers and establishes a dairy production margin protection program and a dairy market stabilization program for milk producers. “We’re very encouraged that the Senate passed its version of the farm bill,” said GFB President Zippy Duvall. “This bill addresses concerns regarding regional inequities that existed in the farm bill the Senate passed last year. This is a big step toward providing our farmers a safety net they can work with and a measure of certainty moving forward. It also demonstrates agriculture’s willingness to do its part to cut the federal deficit as it saves $24 billion in spending. We encourage the House to pass its farm bill this month so the two chambers can resolve any differences in their bills and pass a final farm bill before the current one expires in September.”