WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today delivered the following opening statement at the hearing on “Perspectives from the Field: Farmer and Rancher Views on the Agricultural Economy, Part 1.”
A rough transcript of Klobuchar’s full opening statement is available below and a video can be downloaded here.
Senator Klobuchar: Thank you, Senator Boozman. Thank you to our incredible group of witnesses, including some from the state of Minnesota, and I especially want to welcome Mr. Duvall and Mr. Larew. Most importantly, your street creds are you’ve been to Minnesota’s Farmfest. So, we thank you for that.
I join the Chairman in appreciating the work this Committee has done so far. We’ve gotten to a good, strong, bipartisan support.
Our nation’s farmers continue to produce the world’s safest and most abundant food supply. We know that our farmers take on significant risks and operate on razor-thin margins to feed America and the world, and it is our job to make sure that continues.
I have heard consistently from Minnesota farmers that they need certainty, and part of that certainty of course, as we all know, is getting a farm bill in place. There’s changes we need to make from the last farm bill to make it even better.
And our Committee has an opportunity—at a time when we’ve got high input costs, where we’ve got avian flu—we have an opportunity to pass a bipartisan farm bill and deliver that certainty.
A strong farm bill, of course, requires a coalition of farm, food, research, rural, nutrition, and conservation interests. Things we care deeply about. Farmers depend on all parts of the farm bill—from energy programs that create new markets to research to dealing with emerging threats. We are ready to work with all of our colleagues to get that done.
I do want to take a moment to talk about what happened this past week when we’re talking about certainty.
I am very concerned about the Administration’s first moves on tariffs. While I support targeted tariffs, like many on this Committee, I have serious concerns about sweeping, across-the-board tariffs that threaten our farmers’ livelihoods. Both the American Farm Bureau and the National Farmers Union have expressed concerns about the tariffs and how they could lead to financial hardships for U.S. farmers and ranchers, and of course create higher prices for consumers.
Across-the-board tariffs open American farmers to retaliatory tariffs, and we’ve seen this before. And as I said in my opening at our nomination hearing for Brooke Rollins, what our farmers want is fair trade, and not aid. They want trade, not aid. And this would be a major problem if we look at the results of this.
The decision to impose 25 percent tariffs—which as we know is now on pause for a short period of time—on Canada and Mexico, even if delayed 30 days, could increase costs for inputs like fertilizer just as they’re trying to plan for an upcoming season. A tariff on Canadian potash could increase fertilizer costs by as much as $1.70 an acre for corn and $1.42 an acre for soybeans.
American farmers have worked for decades—thanks to these two gentlemen and many behind them—to improve their international market access. We have been able to find common ground in this Committee on this issue, such as the market promotion funding, and the recent initiative launched by USDA.
We need to build on, not roll back, this progress.
A strong farm safety net, as pointed out by Senator Boozman, includes Title One programs and crop insurance, and they are our farmers’ most effective tools in managing uncertainty. But right now, unfortunately, with some of the confusion over this funding freeze and the OMB memo that was then rescinded in 24 hours, but then other statements from the White House, we have heard from farmers unable to access these critical resources.
Last Congress, Senator Thune and I worked on the Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act to give beginning and veteran farmers more affordable crop insurance protections. This effective tool is important, and we don’t want to take it away in the middle of what I consider chaos.
Extreme weather patterns make the need for a strong safety net even more urgent and the effects of climate change. Minnesota farmers have recorded nearly $1 billion in crop insurance indemnities for 2024 losses due to extreme weather, including droughts and floods.
To address these challenges, Congress added significant funding to USDA’s popular, voluntary conservation programs. USDA also launched a commodities initiative to provide new market opportunities for our nation’s farmers.
The future of these programs is uncertain, and I think it’s very important to see this—many of us may have different political lenses—but to see it from an ag standpoint. We’ve heard from farmers who have purchased tens of thousands of dollars in cover crop seed, only to receive notice that disbursements for these costs are paused.
As many of my colleagues have expressed—and you will hear from today—we remain deeply troubled by the Administration’s pause on conservation support for farmers, and we would like to make sure that we reduce this chaos and make it easier for our farmers to do their good work.
This Committee has always provided a venue for coming together, Democrats and Republicans, to support our farmers and rural America. I know from our personal friendship that Chairman Boozman and I, and in our Committee hearings so far, want that to continue in a very strong way. We’re excited about the Committee and the incredible members on this Committee, and we want to do right by our farmers and the people of this country that depend on them.
I look forward to hearing from the testimony of the witnesses.
Thank you.
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