Farm Bill has serious implications
By U.S. Sen. Angus King
(I-Maine)
This week, 41 select members from the House and Senate began their work on the Farm Bill Conference Committee. Members of the committee are charged with reconciling the differing farm bills passed by the two chambers earlier this summer and producing a final piece of legislation that will define our nation’s agriculture policy over the next five years. Farming is deeply rooted in Maine’s cultural heritage and is a pillar of our state economy.
While I am not a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, I recognize the implications their work holds for the future of our farming and food industries. Last spring, as the Senate drafted its version of the Farm Bill, I helped author the Forest Products Fairness Act, a provision of the bill that will open new economic opportunities for American foresters by allowing their biobased products to qualify for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s BioPreferred Program.
As the final provisions of this year’s legislation will have a substantial impact on thousands of Mainers, I wrote Senators Debbie Stabenow and Thad Cochran, Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, a letter outlining several farming and food issues of particular importance to Maine.
Among them is the need to provide adequate levels of funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) commonly referred to as food stamps. While I believe that we can increase efficiency of the SNAP program, there is a significant difference between efforts to reduce program waste and attempts to disguise large-scale cuts as reforms. The House proposal cuts almost $40 billion in SNAP funding over the next decade that could potentially create a sizeable loss of jobs and income for our farmers, farmers markets, grocery stores and supermarkets. The SNAP program has a tremendously positive economic impact — not just for recipients, but for the food industry as well. Instead, the $4 billion cuts proposed by the Senate bill more accurately reflect the need to trim spending while also maintaining sufficient program funding.
We also need to make sure regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) don’t unfairly burden our small and mid-sized farmers. Encouragingly, the House bill includes language to require further scientific studies before those farmers are saddled with the cost of unworkable and counterproductive federal regulations.
As we restructure the milk pricing system and shift towards a new dairy program, we need to protect dairy farmers by providing them with honest information about the changes under consideration. Requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to release recommendations to Congress is one way of achieving that transparency.
The Farm Bill also provides an invaluable opportunity to support the growing demand for local and healthy food. Programs such as the Farmers Market Promotion Program and the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program can help us accomplish this goal by allowing local and regional agriculture to thrive while simultaneously highlighting the benefits of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables.
Lastly, it is imperative that we create a supportive environment for the future growth of our farming and food products industries. This starts with promoting good land stewardship and providing farmers with the resources and know-how to manage their land with future generations in mind. In addition, funding for beginning farmers and ranchers — through initiatives like the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program — brings new energy into the local food movement and support for research and extension programs allows our farmers to implement safe and efficient growing practices. Excessive cuts to these and other farming resources risks diminished learning and stifled innovation. By providing for tomorrow’s farmers today, we ensure the continued economic vitality of these critical industries.
This is a very exciting time for Maine agriculture. We have a proud tradition of small and diversified farms, and our local food movement is surging. Farmers markets and increased direct sales are improving access to locally grown and locally raised food. From southern apple orchards, to coastal blueberry barrens, to mid-state dairy farms and all the way up to potato fields in Aroostook, the foundation of our local food movement is a growing number of small and midsized family farms. This development has been fueled in part by an injection of young and new farmers. While the average age of farmers is increasing around the country, Maine is one of the few states where it is actually decreasing. More and more, young people in Maine see agriculture as a viable career path. We are experiencing an agricultural renaissance of sorts, and a five-year Farm Bill is critical to support our farmers and sustain these encouraging trends.
I recognize that reconciling the differences between the two bills will be challenging and that compromises will be necessary. However, I remain optimistic that members of the conference committee can come together and craft an agreement that provides our food producers with a sense of certainty and our most vulnerable members of society with a sense of food security.
