Perdue Defends Budget and Crop Insurance Cuts Resistance
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**In a conference call with reporters last week, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue defended the cuts in President Trump's fiscal 2018 budget.
Perdue says Trump promised to realign government spending and that's what he's done.
Perdue says he doesn't believe it's moral to continue to kick a 20 trillion-dollar debt down to our grandchildren, without any relief.
The budget includes significant cuts to USDA programs and would eliminate more than 52-hundred positions in the agency, a 5.5 percent reduction.
**Crop insurance providers are united in opposing the steep cuts proposed in that budget to crop insurance and expect Congress to push back.
Six groups, including the American Association of Crop Insurers and National Crop Insurance Services, say "destructive cuts to crop insurance have been proposed by past Administrations and soundly rejected by Congressional leaders" who know how important it is to keep a strong farm safety net.
**American Farm Bureau is making Congress aware of its tax reform priorities.
Tax policy specialist Pat Wolff says AFBF submitted testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee last week, asking for a comprehensive approach to taxation.
Wolff says it needs to include all kinds of businesses, not just C corporations, but partnerships, sole proprietorships, or some other kind of pass-through business. She tells Brownfield Farm Bureau is also seeking reforms that would reduce the amount of taxes on farmers and ranchers.
