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House Farm Bill Includes Important Wins for North Country Farmers
Agriculture is the backbone of the North Country and our farmers create jobs all across the district. Supporting these farmers in Congress is critical, and this year I have been pleased to work with my colleagues on the Farm Bill that will be considered by the House soon. During my three years in Congress, I’ve made dozens of agriculture stops, hosting agriculture roundtables, touring farms, visiting Ag businesses, and meeting with our farmers and their families at County Fairs each summer. I was also proud to host Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue for a visit to Schuylerville last November — an important opportunity to ensure our district has a seat at the table.
Speaking directly with the great men and women who keep food on our table has helped me understand the agriculture priorities of our region, and I’m pleased to report back on some big wins for our district that I fought to include in this year’s House Farm Bill.
Support for Dairy:
Right now, dairy farmers across our district are facing a crisis, as low milk prices shake the industry and threaten many farms in our region. I was pleased to recently support the Bipartisan Budget Act that made some important reforms to help our dairy farms, and there are several provisions of the Farm Bill that build off this momentum. For instance, the Farm Bill includes requests I made to call for a feed costs study to ensure that North Country farmers are not being held to the skewed feed costs of the Midwest and to increase the top Margin Protection Program (MPP) coverage level from $8 to $9 per hundredweight, allowing North Country producers to have added protection against low milk prices.
This bill also helps reduce costs for our dairy farmers by including a request I made to reduce MPP premiums significantly on every farmer’s first five million pounds of milk covered in the program — roughly 220 cows.
Other important provisions for our dairy producers include maintaining the switch to monthly margin calculations from the budget deal, which helps to better capture volatility; allowing producers to be in both MPP and Livestock Gross Margin Insurance Program; and making changes to NASS price report requirements that will help improve the feed cost calculation under MPP. All of these changes will help put our dairy farmers on stronger footing.
Increasing Access to Rural Broadband
This bill also works toward a top economic priority for our region — increasing access to rural broadband. The Farm Bill authorizes over $500 million in loan and grant programs for increased broadband development, as well as increased infrastructure in rural areas. Increased access to broadband expands our ability to do commerce and will help bring our farmers’ operations into the 21st century.
Important Environmental and Conservation Provisions
As the Co-Chair of the Invasive Species Caucus, I am pleased that this legislation also contains provisions to combat these ecological predators that threaten our farm and forest land. There is also an increase in funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program that helps our farmers while promoting conservation efforts.
Specialty Crops
Our North Country agriculture industry is home to a diverse range of products, including apples and maple. These specialty crops are supported in the Farm Bill through improvements to the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, expanded crop insurance for specialty crops, and combatting the importation of fraudulent foreign specialty crops.
Support for Younger Farmers
Our district is also home to many younger farmers and this legislation provides support for those just getting started in agriculture through a scholarship program at Land Grant Institutions. The bill also extends the beginning farmer discount on crop insurance to 10 years for those purchasing Whole Farm Revenue Protection and maintains the 5 year discount for other policies.
Modernizing SNAP to Ensure Economic Opportunity
This legislation also modernizes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that will expand economic opportunity for North Country families. These changes result from three years of work by the House Committee on Agriculture, including 21 hearings with over 80 witnesses. The legislation ensures that SNAP is offering families necessary support in their time of need, while also providing them with the assistance they need to get back on their feet.
The proposed changes establish substantive work requirements and training and educational opportunities for able-bodied Americans receiving SNAP benefits and address inconsistencies in the current administration of the program. These changes do not represent a cut in SNAP funding, and any savings resulting from changes to the program will be reinvested in the bill’s workforce development provisions. Seniors, disabled and pregnant individuals, as well as individuals who are caring for a child that is less than 6 years old are exempted from these requirements. Read more about these changes here.
As the proud representative of so many family farms across our district, I look forward to supporting this legislation when it comes before the full House. I will be offering amendments related to broadband and conservation efforts, and I continue to listen to feedback from constituents and stakeholders across our district. Thank you to our farmers for all you do to keep food on our tables.
