Vilsack Lays Out Farm Bill Struggles

SALT LAKE CITY (DTN) -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday spotlighted the problems facing Congress trying to draft a farm bill that will boost reference prices, expand crop insurance and provide more efficient disaster aid to producers.

Lawmakers need to become more creative than looking at strategies that essentially rob Peter to pay Paul, Vilsack said.

Vilsack gave a speech at the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting Monday in Salt Lake City where he also announced USDA is releasing $157 million for on-farm renewable energy projects and another $50 million in awards to boost domestic fertilizer production.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Vilsack reiterated that Congress needs to "keep looking for creative ways" in trying to find a path forward on the farm bill.

Farmers are coming off three record years of net farm income, but 2023 saw an estimated decline of nearly 18% compared to 2022. Early forecasts for 2024 net farm income, set to be released in February, are also expected to reflect lower income than 2023.

Right now, proposals to take funding from nutrition or conservation to boost the farmer safety net are not going to be options that lead to a strong bipartisan vote to pass a farm bill, Vilsack said.

"I just don't think we've yet come to a realization that it's going to be difficult to do any of that -- whichever piece you like -- unless you're creative, unless you look for opportunities outside of that farm-bill financing mechanisms," he said.

Two Republican staffers on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees on Monday had suggested reductions to the Thrifty Food Plan in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would free up funds that could "put more farm in the farm bill," as Farm Bureau staff suggested.

Vilsack, however, noted taking funding from nutrition programs would make it more difficult to get a farm bill done. The agreement between the White House and Congress last summer lowered the age requirements for able-bodied people to work to receive SNAP aid. Trying to make more adjustments to SNAP will alienate Democratic votes in Congress.

"So, it jeopardizes the ability to get the farm bill done," he said.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also has floated an idea that producers could receive higher levels of crop insurance protection coverage in exchange for foregoing enrollment in the Agricultural Risk Coverage/Price Loss Coverage (ARC/PLC) programs.

Instead, the secretary has floated the idea of using funds from the Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) to deal with "very legitimate issues" of improving the safety net for farmers. He noted the fund already takes care of the ARC/PLC payments as well as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CCC also has money left over at the end of the funding year.

"I'm open to the opportunity to use CCC to deal with whatever challenges there may be relative to reference prices, relative to disaster assistance, relative to crop insurance, whatever it is that's a creative way in lieu of having to rob something from the current farm bill structure," Vilsack said.

The secretary also said the $15 billion or so left in conservation funds from the Inflation Reduction Act should remain in conservation because those programs already have more demand than available funding.

The secretary also is facing the risk that Congress could restrict his use of the CCC funds because Republicans opposed USDA using $3.1 billion for the climate-smart commodities initiative. Vilsack noted that unlike his predecessor, former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Vilsack did not "drain" the CCC funds and then ask for more money to fill it.

Tom Vilsack also pointed out that Congress wants to restrict him from using CCC funds, yet leaders in the Senate Agriculture Committee asked him to use the fund to create a new trade promotion program as well.

"They want to limit CCC authority, but they asked me to use the CCC or to help trade programs, then they want it available when there's a disaster," Vilsack said.

REAP MONEY

Vilsack also used his appearance at AFBF to award 675 projects under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) in 42 states. REAP essentially helps farmers or other small, rural businesses build out their renewable energy projects on their farms or businesses.

"It's going to help lower costs for farmers across the United States," Vilsack said of the REAP awards.

The awards included projects such as installing solar arrays to help power a waste-water treatment facility, for instance. A meat locker in South Dakota received funds to install a new refrigeration system that will save the company enough energy to power 23 homes for a year.

FERTILIZER GRANTS

Separately, USDA also invested $50 million in seven new domestic fertilizer projects under the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP). One facility in Nebraska will receive an award to "manufacture custom products based on the results of plant tissue and soil samples." A separate project in North Carolina will build a new anaerobic digestion facility that also will produce 50,000 tons of organic fertilizer and ammonium sulfate annually.

Plugging the fertilizer projects, Vilsack added, "Many of these projects are farmer-owned, which creates yet another profit opportunity."

Also see "American Farm Bureau Federation Focused on Farm Bill, Ag Labor Challenges" here:

https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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