'Enhance the farm safety net,' says top Republican on House Ag

Congress should strengthen the crop insurance and farm subsidy programs so producers don't have to rely on stop-gap federal aid to survive trade wars, natural disasters, and the pandemic, the Republican leader on the House Agriculture Committee said on Tuesday. Other speakers during a webcast discussion said global warming requires the 2023 farm bill to be the most climate-friendly bill ever.

Funding is expected to be tight for the new farm bill. Austerity usually inspires attempts to expand some programs by raiding money from others. House Republicans tried in the 2014 and 2018 farm bills to slash SNAP spending. The climate, healthcare, and tax bill passed last summer earmarked $20 billion for USDA soil and water conservation programs with a priority for practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase climate resiliency.

"The need for a reliable farm safety net is paramount," said Pennsylvania Rep Glenn Thompson, who is expected to be Agriculture chairman in January. Nearly 80% of federal funding for agriculture since 2018 flowed through bailout programs — "necessary assistance" although "farmers can't plan for them," he said. Tens of billions of dollars were disbursed in trade-war and pandemic-relief programs with additional spending on disaster aid.

"And that's why we need to enhance the farm safety net provisions in the farm bill to provide more long-term certainty and to reduce the need for ad hoc assistance," said Thompson in recorded remarks for the Farm Foundation online forum.

Farm groups are pressing for higher reference prices, a factor in calculating subsidy payments, and more protection under the federally subsidized crop insurance program.

"I have said on many, many occasions that I believe this farm bill that we're debating in 2023 will need to be able to carry the label as the most climate-friendly farm bill that we have ever passed," said Chuck Conner, deputy agriculture secretary during the George W. Bush era. "I believe we have solved a lot of problems in American agriculture using incentives and cost-share (assistance). I believe this also can be done in the climate space."

Conner is a leader in the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance, which favors voluntary, incentive-based action to mitigate climate change. He said the four flashpoints for the farm bill would be conservation initiatives, funding for SNAP, the overall cost of the farm bill, and building rural and urban support for the legislation. "You can't do a farm bill with just rural voters," he said.

Two panelists, Jonathan Coppess of the University of Illinois, and Christopher Adamo, a former staff director for the Senate Agriculture Committee, said a status-quo farm bill was possible, in light of the small House and Senate majorities and the dearth of new funding for the farm bill.

"Even in a status quo bill, we can be pretty forward-leaning in the climate space," said Conner, pointing to the $20 billion appropriated in the climate bill. Coppess said the money could become a target for budget cutters or lawmakers wanting to shift some of the funding to their pet programs.

A video of the forum is available here.