We need more ‘FARM’ in the Farm Bill

As president of Arkansas Farm Bureau, I have the privilege of seeing Arkansas’s diverse agriculture industry from a front-row seat. I also understand many of the challenges facing our state’s largest industry, and our ability to feed much of the world continues to be the most pressing issue. The passage of a federal “Farm Bill” is critical to the stability of agriculture in Arkansas and across the nation.

We recently traveled with roughly 40 county Farm Bureau leaders to Washington, D.C. One of the key messages to our Congressional delegation was the need to update the Farm Bill to consider the current and projected economic conditions facing farmers and ranchers. Over the past few years, with weather patterns changing and higher input costs, the producer’s risk seem to increase and profit margins grow tighter with every growing season.

Net farm income across Arkansas is expected to be down by $500 million by the end of 2024, according to the Rural & Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center. The report cites a 15 percent decline in net farm incomes in 2023 and a projected 25 percent drop in 2024. Not many family businesses can take that sort of loss and keep their doors open. Arkansas farmers are no exception. The assurances provided by the Farm Bill are needed to keep many of our family farms in business.

Agriculture contributes approximately $19 billion to Arkansas’s economy and is responsible for one of every seven jobs. Our state leads the nation in rice production and is in the top 10 for soybean, chicken, cotton, catfish, turkey and egg production.

Because of the role agriculture plays in our state’s economy – and the stability it provides to our nation’s food supply – every Arkansan should be interested in the value of the Farm Bill, which is renewed every five years. In 2023, Congress was tasked with replacing the 2018 Farm Bill. However, it chose to extend the statue for one year, through Sept. 30, while it debated key components of the bill.

What is known as the “Farm Bill” is a federal initiative that funds feeding programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food, formula and other support to low-income families. It also funds conservation and environmental stewardship programs. There are also significant investments in rural community development and services, such as broadband expansion and water protection programs.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the next Farm Bill will have a baseline of $1.46 trillion over 10 years. Spending related to the Farm Bill’s nutrition assistance title accounts for 82 percent of this projection. Even though it is called a Farm Bill, only nine percent of the bill goes to help farmers/ranchers with crop insurance to protect their investments. Seven percent goes to support agriculture commodities.

U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas serves as ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee, has anchored the conversations surrounding the next Farm Bill. Sen. Boozman truly understands agriculture. He was only the second Arkansan honored with the Golden Plow Award from the American Farm Bureau, representing the organization’s highest honor for a sitting member of Congress who exemplifies agricultural leadership and support of Farm Bureau policies. Recipients are chosen based on their philosophy or record that demonstrates a commitment to sound agricultural policies, the private enterprise system, fiscal conservatism and reduced federal regulation of businesses and individuals.

Sen. Boozman recently joined U.S. Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota to introduce the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act, which seeks to improve crop insurance affordability by increasing premium support for the highest levels of coverage and enhancing the Supplemental Coverage Option.

The FARMER Act is a starting point, and we greatly appreciate the efforts Sens. Boozman and Hoeven in expanding the affordability and accessibility of crop insurance. However, the FARMER Act does not address the current reference prices – the figure used to trigger USDA farm program support. Those current reference prices are based on 2012 data, and much has changed in our world over the past 12 years. For the Farm Bill to provide the stability to the farming sector that it is designed to safeguard, the reference prices must be updated to reflect the cost of doing business today.

Arkansas Farm Bureau and its members want to make sure we get the Farm Bill right, whenever it comes up for a vote. And we believe more FARM in the Farm Bill benefits our state and the farm families of Arkansas.

Editor’s note: Dan Wright of Waldron is in his first year as president of Arkansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest agricultural advocacy organization. He is a poultry farmer and hay producer. He also serves on the American Farm Bureau board of directors and is a member of the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission. The opinions expressed are those of the author.