WASHINGTON— U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, called for Congress and the administration to provide a “timely and urgent response” to the looming farm crisis in the form of emergency assistance to farmers and called for a redoubling of efforts to pass a farm bill before the end of the calendar year in a speech on the Senate floor.
On emergency assistance, Boozman said, “Farmers across the country need a bridge to help their family farms survive into next year. We’ve seen previous ad-hoc assistance programs established in a period of weeks, as demonstrated by then Secretary [Sonny] Perdue when the COVID-19 pandemic created disruptions for producers. That level of timely and urgent response by Congress and the administration is once again warranted.”
Boozman then turned his attention to the stalled farm bill talks.
“The next farm bill is the appropriate place to make the necessary long-term corrections to our farm safety net, but farmers need timely support addressing 2024 losses as they enter the winter months when they make planting decisions and secure financing for the upcoming crop year,” Boozman said. “We must redouble our efforts to pass a farm bill, before the end of the calendar year, that meets this moment – one that provides the support our farmers desperately need to stay in business. I am committed to sitting down with my counterparts for as long as it takes to hash out a deal that our members can support.”
The following are Boozman’s remarks as prepared:
Mr. President,
Last week hundreds of farmers and ranchers, from all regions of our country, representing operations of all sizes and all the major crops, traveled to Capitol Hill to encourage us to pass a strong farmer-focused farm bill before the end of this year.
I met with many of these individuals, and I am grateful they took time away from their families and their farms and ranches to tell us what was at stake if Congress fails to pass a farm bill this year.
For these farmers, this trip came with the additional stress of being away from the farm at the height of harvest season.
Their visits clearly articulated the anxiety gripping farm country at this crucial moment.
For the past few months, farmers, ranchers, the organizations who represent them, and the agricultural banking sector, have all warned of an impending crisis in farm county.
Producers are struggling to make ends meet in an environment where costs for farm inputs have ballooned from inflation, interest rates have doubled and market prices are far below the cost of production.
Coupled with consecutive years of losses, the financial stress borne, particularly, by our row crop farmers is now being revealed.
The reality is there will be fewer farmers in 2025 if Congress does not respond.
We have been warned that many farmers will struggle to secure operating loans for next year.
This is a devastating realization.
The outdated farm safety net they are operating under is doing nothing to address these realities.
That is why the Senate needs to take two immediate actions.
First, we need to provide emergency assistance to address the economic losses that farmers are facing associated with the 2024 crop.
Even with record yields, farmers are still not breaking even.
This is not a crisis they can produce, insure, or conserve their way out of.
Farmers across the country need a bridge to help their family farms survive into next year.
We’ve seen previous ad-hoc assistance programs established in a period of weeks, as demonstrated by then Secretary Perdue when the COVID-19 pandemic created disruptions for producers.
That level of timely and urgent response by Congress and the administration is once again warranted.
In southern states like Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas, many producers have harvested their 2024 crop and many are losing hundreds of dollars per acre of ground they farm.
That same experience is beginning to creep into the Midwest and northern states as harvest begins in these regions.
What do losses of this magnitude translate to?
Not only are producers not able to pay their bills, but they won’t be able to secure an operating loan for next year’s crop, let alone have any income at all to survive on.
This has devastating ripple effects on rural businesses and communities.
Let me be clear, emergency assistance does not reduce the need to make meaningful investments to the commodity and crop insurance titles of the next farm bill.
In fact, the clear necessity of providing ad hoc assistance for economic losses demonstrates how inadequate the 2018 farm bill is.
The next farm bill is the appropriate place to make the necessary long-term corrections to our farm safety net, but farmers need timely support addressing 2024 losses as they enter the winter months when they make planting decisions and secure financing for the upcoming crop year.
Which leads me to the second action Congress must take: we must redouble our efforts to pass a farm bill, before the end of the calendar year, that meets this moment – one that provides the support our farmers desperately need to stay in business.
I am committed to sitting down with my counterparts for as long as it takes to hash out a deal that our members can support.
I was encouraged to see House Ag Committee Ranking Member David Scott make a similar appeal last week.
I know our respective Chairs are eager to pass a bill this session of Congress.
The window to make that happen is closing quickly.
Our family farmers are staring down a crisis that is growing more dire by the day and many fear that the Senate simply doesn’t care about their plight.
Mr. President, you and I both know that is far from the truth.
I know my colleagues want to make sure our farmers can continue to produce the safest, most affordable and most abundant supply of food, fuel and fiber in the world.
But without action, it is an understandable sentiment.
Senate Ag Committee Republicans have been sounding the alarm on this brewing crisis for months.
It is the very reason we have been adamant about the need for more farm in the farm bill.