United States lawmakers are struggling to come to an agreement about the details of the next federal Farm Bill.
During her recent testimony (March 20, 2024) to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee regarding foreign ownership of agricultural land, Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said a Farm Bill is not only a safety net for farmers, but also for the nation’s food supply.
“America decided years ago that we need to have a farm bill to ensure that every family in this country had a safe, and had an affordable food supply, that they had the ability to go to a grocery store to put food on the table for their families. And that if a farmer had a good year, he could pay his bills, but if he had a bad year, he could lose everything.”
Noem– who is a farmer and former House Ag Committee member– stressed a farm bill should be bipartisan but argued it wouldn’t work without boosting subsidy triggers or reference prices. an issue that’s divided the two parties over funding.
“If you don’t address the increase in reference prices and bring them up to where they should be, there is no safety net.”
Noem said that’s a big key to keeping farmers on the land.
“They’re some of the biggest gamblers in the world that I know because they bury millions of dollars in the dirt and they’re taking a chance because they really, truly do believe that producing food is a world need, and it’s a need that America needs to have, so at least give them a safety net.”
Noem said having a viable farm safety net is crucial to getting producers through bad years and in enabling America to feed itself, instead of depending on other countries.
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