Farm Bureau Establishes Priorities for 2023 Farm Bill

With serious challenges facing agriculture, underscored by even deeper concerns in margins and input costs, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) outlined the organization’s key objectives for the 2023 Farm Bill.

“The farm bill is the most significant piece of legislation that affects farmers and ranchers across the country,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said. “Since enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill, farmers have faced significant challenges from market volatility, increased input costs and devastating natural disasters. Despite these headwinds, farmers and ranchers have met the needs of consumers both here and abroad while continuing to improve our environmental stewardship.”

The priorities were identified by a working group of Farm Bureau members and staff from across the country. They include more than 60 recommendations over multiple titles of the farm bill, including reference price increases for commodities, more transparency for milk checks, funding for conservation programs, rural development and streamlining of nutrition programs to get food to those who need it most.

The AFBF board of directors voted unanimously to approve the recommendations. Final approval of policy priorities will be accomplished by a vote of delegates at the AFBF Convention in Puerto Rico in January 2023.

AFBF launched its grassroots policy development process, beginning with a farm bill working group. Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Associate Director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities Brant Wilbourn is serving on the working group.

Panhandle farmer and former TFB Vice President Robert Gordon is representing the organization on AFBF’s Farm Policy Issues Advisory Committee, which covers price and income support programs, conservation programs and risk management programs, including crop insurance.

“The 2023 Farm Bill is on the minds of farmers and ranchers right now. Conversations are centered on risk management tools that are important in uncertain and volatile markets—much of what we’ve experienced over the last few years,” Wilbourn said. “It’s also important to note that the farm bill has helped protect our nation’s food security and our supply of domestic renewable energy and fiber, as well as incentives for conservation programs.”

Conservation programs

AFBF encourages prime farmland to come back into production by capping acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and to use the conservation program for marginal acres, land that is highly erodible or non-productive.

AFBF recommends flexibility in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to address local and regional resource challenges, including groundwater sustainability and drought relief, resilience and preparedness.

Crop insurance

The farm organization supports a robust crop insurance program with no reductions in premium cost share and recommends developing and maintaining adequate risk management tools for livestock producers, including contract growers.

AFBF also supports expansion of crop insurance to include specialty crops.

Dairy

AFBF supports retaining the current Dairy Margin Coverage program with supplemental and feed cost updates. The group recommends updating production averages to a three-year rolling average or current production for payment calculations.

The federal insurance programs related to dairy should take into consideration negative Producer Price Differentials (PPDs) to ensure that farmers receive the margin that they insured.

Whole milk should be promoted and advanced through the special milk program through schools, nutrition assistance and the U.S. military, AFBF noted.

Farm loans

AFBF proposes streamlining loan programs and ensuring loan amounts keep pace with farm level expenses. The group also recommended minimizing application requirements for young and beginning farmer guarantee programs to be more aligned with agricultural lenders.

Specialty crops

AFBF recommends creating a “termed stopgap profit/loss assistance program” to compensate growers due to losses caused by increases in imports.

The national organization also suggests USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for schools should include frozen, canned, dried and fresh produce.

But priority should be given to fresh and locally grown produce. A new block grant program that would allow food banks and food access networks to directly purchase specialty crops from farmers was also a recommendation from AFBF.

Farm bill website

The farm bill is a critical tool for ensuring the nation’s food supply remains secure. Funding for this comprehensive package, which could more accurately be called a food and farm bill, includes risk management tools for farmers, access to nutrition for low-income families, conservation programs and investments in agricultural research.

For more information about the farm bill, visit fb.org/farmbill.

“We look forward to working with Congress to ensure the appropriate resources are available to craft farm policy that reduces food insecurity, bolsters national security and encourages long-term stability for all of our farm and ranch families,” Duvall said.