Renaming the farm bill

Renaming the farm bill

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall suggested a rethinking of what farmers consider the farm bill to be. At the opening of the 99th Annual American Farm Bureau Federation Convention, Duvall said it's time to stop calling the farm bill a safety net for farmers. AFBF held meetings throughout 2017 to gather input from farmers for the next farm bill. "One thing that came from the input is that the Risk Management programs are critical to us. We need Congress to pass a farm and food security bill this year and it is important to keep them together so that we can draw enough interest in Congress and enough support to get it passed."

Duvall calls the farm bill a food security bill for everyone. "It's for every consumer across America. The farm bill is for conservation. It's for rural development. It's for our energy security. It's for research so that we can continue to increase production and meet the demand for the future. And yes, it should continue to be for those low income Americans who need an extra helping hand to put food on the table."

He said input shows the importance of the farm bill to sustaining agriculture, particularly given the current down economy farmers are facing.

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