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Ranking Member Stabenow Opening Statement at Hearing with U.S. Department of Agriculture on the Current State of the Farm Economy

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, released the following opening statement – as prepared for delivery – at today’s full committee hearing with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the Current State of the Farm Economy. 

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Thank you Chairman Roberts.  I am proud of the bipartisan work we have done together this Congress. We reauthorized the Grain Standards Act, mandatory price reporting, and the National Forest Foundation, and passed mandatory GMO labeling. And hopefully we will see the Child Nutrition Reauthorization signed into law by the end of this year.

Today’s hearing is an important reminder that farm and food policy affects all Americans. Everyone benefits from safe and affordable food, clean water and air, strong rural communities, and the creation of jobs in the emerging bio-based economy. The work of this committee and USDA is critical in addressing the concerns of America’s farmers, families, ag-businesses and rural communities.

Of course, nobody knows this better than Secretary Vilsack. Under his leadership over the past 8 years, USDA has made historic progress on issues from conservation and climate change, to healthy eating and helping farmers feed the world. He has been the longest serving Agriculture Secretary in nearly 50 years and among the very best our country has ever had.

Thank you Mr. Secretary for joining us this morning and for your leadership. I know that your legacy will live on long past your tenure.

With half the life of the 2014 Farm Bill behind us, we must begin to examine what’s working and how to improve these policies in the upcoming Farm Bill. 

As we know, there has been a dramatic slowdown in the farm economy since the passage of the Farm Bill. Farm income has dropped by over 50 percent—the steepest drop in farm income since the Great Depression. Our farm safety net keeps producers in business when disaster strikes. The 2014 Farm Bill made historic reforms by shifting away from direct payments to a focus on the risk management tools farmers requested to support producers during the bad years like we are seeing today. 

New and beginning farmers are especially vulnerable to financial stress during these times, making access to credit an especially important tool. I applaud USDA for taking action earlier this month to provide additional funding for farm loans. I am hopeful Congress can provide additional flexibility for USDA to extend credit to all farmers in need.

Just as the safety net for farmers is critical in times of low prices, I also want to acknowledge the critical role SNAP plays as a safety net for families. Much as farm support grows and shrinks as prices fluctuate, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program responds to the needs of families. The good news is that 4 million fewer families are in need of the nutrition safety net than when we were writing the last Farm Bill in 2012.

The latest hunger report from USDA shows that the number of families who are food insecure is at the lowest point on record. The safety net is working. We have also begun to see positive results from key Farm Bill programs like the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive program (FINI), which is boosting farm sales of healthy foods across the country and helping SNAP families afford healthy foods. And the employment and training pilots are proving that the best way to help transition SNAP participants to work is to provide the training and support services they need to get a stable full-time job, not to deny families access to food.

Another goal in the last Farm Bill was to support the diversity of American agriculture. We have seen this pay off with positive growth in organic agriculture and local/regional food systems – markets that were virtually nonexistent a decade ago. Today, we have the opportunity to expose consumers to agriculture through these markets and new ones like urban agriculture.

The 2014 Farm Bill made historic investments in sustainability and conservation, particularly through new partnership programs designed to address concerns with the help of local partners and farmers. We must continue to look at how conservation and forestry programs can address issues like water quality, drought, and wildlife habitat protection while also providing adequate support for farmers and foresters seeking to mitigate the effects of climate change on their operations. As farmers continue to face regulatory challenges over issues like water quality, voluntary conservation programs can be an important solution for farmers. But farmers can’t do it alone. Partnerships between government, conservation groups, and agriculture will be critical to the success of voluntary conservation measures.

The same is true for expanding agriculture research and prioritizing the most critical and relevant research.  I am optimistic that the new Foundation for Food and Agriculture established in the Farm Bill will take strides this year to begin funding research projects, together with diverse partners, to keep American agriculture competitive and ensure we can continue to feed the world.

We only have an economy in America if we make things and we grow things. This Committee, working with the USDA, has a critical role in making sure that happens.

Thank you Mr. Secretary for joining us today, I look forward to hearing your testimony.

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