In farm country, we all remember THE PROMISE. Chairman Thompson made THE PROMISE.
That’s House Ag Committee Chairman Rep. Glenn (G.T.) Thompson is the former nursing home administrator who represents, geographically, the largest congressional district in Pennsylvania – right smack in the middle of the state. Thompson committed to the timeline and repeated his words: “We’re going to get the farm bill done — ON TIME!” He made THE PROMISE.
Where? Chairman Thompson made THE PROMISE over and over at farm bill hearings and farm bill meetings throughout the Nation.
Said Chairman Thompson, “We’re going to get the farm bill done – ON TIME! I PROMISE.”
Shock of shock, he’s late. Another Republican PROMISE not fulfilled.
Not only did the existing farm bill expire on September 30, 2023, but the story gets worse. The Republican Chairman did not have a working draft ready for review for his House Committee or for a single farmer or rancher from what Woody Gutherie called “From Sea to Shining Sea” anywhere across our entire Nation.
Farmers and ranchers will remember that in December 2022, more than 150 food and farm organizations sent a letter to President Biden, asking him to stick by his values and create a transformative Farm Bill. In recent years, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted and continue to disrupt the U.S. food and farming system. This has been visibly painful for farmers, workers, and consumers. If a farm bill ever needed to be done on time, 2023 was the year.
Farm and food issues were not exactly ignored. While Chairman Thompson could not draft a farm bill, some of his colleagues were busy. Thompson’s friends and colleagues at the Freedom Caucus aimed to slash and burn programs critical to farmers and ranchers. House conservatives were busy making threats: “We demand”… 30% cuts in nutrition, absolutely no funding for anything related to climate change, strict limitations on crop insurance, cuts in research, and worse.
The future of American agriculture – for our Nation and the World – for U.S. Trade, the U.S. economy, and our hard-working food and fiber producers is at stake. Our future hangs in the balance as discussions on the Farm Bill remain behind closed Republican doors — if there is any serious discussion.
With the Bill having expired, various stakeholders are now calling for critical provisions such as full expensing of investments in new equipment, full expensing of research and development (R&D) investments, and business deductions for interest expenses on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in the U.S. tax code. This call to action has been backed by producer organizations, including the American Dairy Coalition, American Horse Council, Latino Farmers & Ranchers International, National Grange, Rural & Agriculture Council of America, the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, and Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE).
Much more is at stake, including the Child Tax Credit and nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). In the 2023 Farm Bill baseline, nutrition accounts for 84% of the program.
Essentially, nothing is safe. 2018 Federal crop insurance protected 84 percent of U.S. acres for all commodities. At a time when gyrating weather and climate-driven weather disruptions are driving up almost every financial and marketing risk factor for producers, it’s not good. Meanwhile, USDA research has been underfunded for at least a decade.
This is the food on our tables that is at stake. It may be there won’t be a Farm Bill until 2025, and that is too long to wait.
No surprise, USDA’s Economic Research Service predicted only this past week that inflation-adjusted farm income will fall this year.
From Chairman Thompson – farmers and ranchers get just one thing: BROKEN PROMISES.