MINORITY BLOG

The 1980’s were a dark time for America’s family farmers. Commodity prices were under pressure, farm equity was wiped out as farmland values fell sharply, and farm bankruptcies soared across rural America. It was around this time that Jeff Smeenk was headed to college. His parents warned him not to come back to agriculture. The 80s farm crisis was...

Joe Aguzzi has been farming for so long that he remembers a time when mules plowed his family’s fields. Today, you’ll still find Joe, now 98 years old, out in the field. Instead of relying on mules, he is now utilizing technological advancements like precision agriculture to get the job done. Joe is a first-generation American, and his grandparents...

Key Takeaways Due to increases in projected farm profitability for the dairy, livestock, and poultry sectors, USDA’s most recent farm income forecast made historically large upward revisions in their outlook for U.S. farm profitability. This forecast, however, works to conceal the real economic challenges facing America’s farm and ranch...

In his column this week, Ranking Member John Boozman highlighted the vision Senate Republican have put forth in their farm bill framework to respond to current and future animal diseases:  "As the head Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am committed to ensuring America continues to lead the way in responding to current and future...

The Senate Republican Farm Bill Framework was based on feedback gathered from the listening sessions Ranking Member John Boozman and his colleagues held in over 20 different states with diverse agriculture profiles. These visits have given senators the opportunity to hear directly from farmers, from distinctly different parts of the country, about...

Ranking Member Boozman wrote an opinion piece published in this month’s edition of the Arkansas Money & Politics that highlights efforts by Senate Republicans to increase conservation funding by nearly 30 percent well into the future. Key takeaways Conservation programs have bipartisan support because they work. Farmers, ranchers and foresters...

Ranking Member Boozman wrote an opinion piece published in today's edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that outlines how the Senate Republicans efforts to put more farm in the farm bill will help farmers in Arkansas and across the country. Key takeaways The input of farmers and ranchers must be the foundation for laws that impact their...

Farmers, ranchers, foresters and rural communities from across the country spoke up – and we listened. Now, Senate Republicans have answered their call with a framework that puts more farm in the farm bill.

Key Takeaways Congress has a historic opportunity to make a meaningful and permanent increase in funding for locally-led conservation, natural resource preservation, and wildlife habitat needs by moving Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) dollars into a bipartisan farm bill. Over the next 25 years this additional investment in conservation spending...

Key Takeaways In his latest effort to avoid responsibility for the historic inflation in food and grocery prices, President Biden tried to lay the blame at the feet of food companies-- accusing them of a practice called “shrinkflation” -- during his State of the Union Address. This follows a similar effort in 2021 to blame inflation on food...

Key Takeaways The Congressional Budget Office’s February 2024 baseline for USDA Mandatory Farm Programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program revealed projected outlays for farm bill-related programs at $1.46 trillion over the 10-year window from fiscal years 2025 to 2034 – down 3.5% from the previous 10-year baseline of $1.5...

Key Takeaways At the dismay of Congress, members of state and national farm organizations, and countless other stakeholders, USDA fundamentally altered the methodology for delivering ad hoc disaster assistance to farmers impacted by catastrophic weather events. By implementing a progressive payment factor, and selectively reimbursing farmer-paid...

Ranking Member Boozman wrote an opinion piece outlining how Congress can strengthen the farm safety net that ran in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette over the holiday break. In his piece, Ranking Member Boozman says he is committed to using the one-year extension of the current Farm Bill to get the next one done right to ensure our farmers have the...

Key Takeaways USDA’s self-imposed November 30 deadline on the Time-Limited Trial for New Swine Inspection System plants is rapidly approaching and the department has yet to establish a permanent solution or issue an extension of the current Time-Limited Trial that allows certain pork processing plants to operate at increased line speeds to...

Key Takeaways Farm-related conservation resources in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are unlikely to benefit all farmers as a recent review of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program financial obligations revealed that fewer than half of the currently funded projects would meet the climate-smart...

Key Takeaways Highlighting the volatility inherent in farming and farm income, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) most recent farm income forecast projects U.S. net farm income, a broad measure of farm profitability to plummet by $42 billion in 2023 to $141 billion, resulting in a 23% income drop compared to the year prior. If realized,...

Key Takeaways A mandatory base acre update would force farmers to update their farm’s base acres to reflect a more recent snapshot of their planting history. The economic effects are significant and are conservatively estimated to result in an overall loss of $2 billion to farmers and rural communities and economies due to a decline in farm...

Key Takeaways USDA’s first 2024 cost-of-production forecast for major field crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, and peanuts, among others, reveals that input costs are expected to remain elevated into the next growing season, at the third-highest level of all-time, and only slightly lower than the record-high reached in 2022. While...

Ranking Member Boozman has been sharing his perspectives on the farm safety net, rural infrastructure and school meal guidelines in opinion sections recently. Here’s a rundown: The editorial board of Washington Post published a piece filled with inaccurate claims about the farm safety net. The paper published Ranking Member Boozman’s...

Key Takeaways The Congressional Budget Office’s highly anticipated May 2023 baseline is widely expected to be the 2023 Farm Bill scoring baseline – meaning any proposed policy modifications and the impact on the U.S. deficit will [likely] be measured against this baseline. CBO’s May baseline confirms that the 2023 Farm Bill, upon enactment, could...