National Ag Leaders Urge Congress to Provide Economic Aid, Disaster Assistance to Farmers in Year-End Legislation
While members of the 118th Congress will be finished with their lame-duck session this week, lawmakers have yet to release or vote on a year-end legislation package.
Although recent negotiations have included funding for the federal government, a Farm Bill extension, economic assistance for agriculture producers and natural disaster recovery aid, Congressional leadership has signaled that the package does not currently include economic assistance.
In response to this development, the following national ag leaders have issued the following statements over the weekend:
Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA):
“Farmers and ranchers are encountering tremendous pressures under high input costs, elevated interest costs, deeply depressed commodity futures markets and poor local cash markets. Additionally, they have experienced powerful headwinds, ranging from extreme weather to uncertain global demand to supply chain disruptions. NASDA calls on Congress to put politics aside and find a resolution that provides the necessary economic aid and disaster assistance for the farmers and ranchers who work every day to provide food security to our country while also feeding the world.”
Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF):
“At a time when farm income is in a downward spiral and costs are rising, it’s unacceptable for Congress to turn its back on farmers. Farmers don’t get to set the prices for their goods and right now those prices don’t even come close to covering their costs. We lost 141,000 farms in five years and if Congress fails to include economic aid for farmers, the sad reality is that we’ll lose more.
“Our whole country will suffer the consequences if Congress takes farmers and our food supply for granted. For this reason, I call on members of Congress who represent agriculture to stand with farmers by insisting the supplemental spending bill include economic aid for farmers and voting it down if it doesn’t. In truth, every elected leader who enjoys our affordable and abundant food supply represents agriculture, so I urge them to band together and ensure farmers are supported.
“Nearly 80% of Americans believe lawmakers should prioritize legislation that supports farmers and ranchers so it’s just plain unacceptable that our elected leaders are considering putting politics first. I hope reasonable members of Congress take a stand for the good folks who stock their pantries.”
Kenneth Hartman Jr, President of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA):
“We are deeply disappointed that congressional leadership appears to be at an impasse over crucial economic assistance for farmers in an end-of-the-year legislative package. Corn growers are faced with low prices and high input costs and economic aid would provide them with critical relief during challenging economic times.
“While these developments are disheartening, we call on Congress to resume negotiations and pass legislation that includes economic assistance while there is still time.”
Caleb Ragland, President of the American Soybean Association (ASA):
“We urge congressional leadership to return to the negotiating table and find a path forward. A package that does not include both economic and disaster assistance for our farmers who have suffered significantly from unforgiving market conditions, disastrous weather phenomena and for many, a combination of both, simply does not meet the mark for what agriculture and specifically, our soy growers, need. We will oppose any supplemental spending package that does not provide meaningful assistance to farmers who need help now to stay afloat in 2025 and beyond.”
Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG):
“NAWG opposes any continued resolution that does not include economic assistance for farmers. We are disappointed that leaders in Congress couldn’t find common ground to provide relief to farmers experiencing a financial crisis and urge them to continue working on a package that meets the needs of rural America. Wheat growers have seen their prices drop by over 36 percent since the 2022/23 marketing year and need the certainty an economic assistance package can provide before the end of the year. Period. Congress has already failed to pass a robust farm bill, and the lack of leadership in reaching an agreement will continue to hurt farmers who feed America and the world.”