Farm Bill Fallout Audio

The shock over the defeat of the farm bill in the U.S. House of Representatives had barely sunk in Thursday when the blame game began. Here is some audio from the House floor and other sources on who is to blame and what happens now. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Minority Whip Steney Hoyer (D-VA) blame each others’ parties: …

House Farm Bill Defeated

Despite an impassioned plea by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas to “move this bill forward” the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (FARRM) failed on a vote of 194 to 234, with 60 Republicans joining the majority of Democrats to defeat the House version of the farm bill.

Senate Farm Bill Audio

Comments from Senators on the floor recorded from C-Span2 during final vote on Senate Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 passed June 10, 2013 by a vote of 66 to 27.

Farm Bureau Propsal for Farm Bill

The American Farm Bureau Federation sent a farm bill proposal to Capitol Hill this week that offers a diverse mix of risk management and safety net tools to benefit a wide range of farms and it saves $23 billion compared to the cost of continuing the current program. “We’ve tried to look at providing farmers a three-legged safety net stool …

Vilsack at North American Ag Journalists Meeting

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke to the North American Agricultural Journalists annual meeting on April 8, covering a variety of important issues, including immigration and getting a new food, farm and jobs bill. “I believe we will have a bill this year because we have to have a bill this year,” Vilsack said, noting the need to resolve issues such …

New Study Finds Biotech Plays Role in Meeting Food and Fuel Demand

WASHINGTON (Nov. 20, 2006) — (AgNewsWire) With ethanol demand at record highs and existing strong food use of corn, some experts are wondering where the extra corn will come from. A new study released today by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (National Center) suggests that biotechnology plays an important role in meeting this increased demand for corn …

American Farmland Trust Report – New Framework For U. S. Farm Policy

American Farmland TrustWashington, DC – (AgNewsWire) On the same week as the 73rd anniversary of the first farm bill (May 12, 1933), two former Secretaries of Agriculture under Republican and Democratic administrations and two Midwestern farmer leaders today endorsed new, visionary policy recommendations for the 21st century contained in a report released today by American Farmland Trust (AFT). Entitled Agenda 2007: A New Framework and Direction for U.S. Farm Policy, the new AFT report is a product of more than a year of consultation with hundreds of farmers, ranchers, economists and policy experts. Agenda 2007 offers guidelines and policy recommendations for the next farm bill. It was developed to respond to mounting budget deficits, the trade distortions of existing policies, the inequitable distribution of farm bill benefits and insufficient focus on infrastructure investment and on conservation, environmental, energy and other programs of great potential benefit to rural America. (Full Release)