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National & World Ag News Headlines |
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Farm Groups Not Pleased with Trump's Budget Proposal
USAgNet - 05/24/2017
U.S. farm groups on Tuesday pushed back against President Donald Trump's proposal to slash agriculture spending, viewing it as a fresh threat to a struggling farm economy. The White House on Monday proposed $46.54 billion in cuts to federal government
funding for the agriculture sector over the next 10 years, including limits on federal subsidies for crop insurance premiums. Congress has the final say on the government's budget and lawmakers said the president's plan stands little chance of passing.
According to Reuters, U.S. Agriculture Department Secretary Sonny Perdue said there was no "sugarcoating" the budget proposal, which could lead to the elimination of 5,263 jobs at the department if implemented, or about 5 percent of its workforce.
USDA requested $18 billion for department spending in fiscal 2018, down from $24 billion in 2017. Farmers in the U.S. agricultural heartland overwhelmingly supported Trump last November and are struggling with low crop prices that are hurting incomes.
American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall says his organization is concerned about the federal budget deficit, but feels agriculture has done its fair share to help reduce the deficit.
"Going back to the early 1980s, agriculture often has been targeted to generate budget savings, from the reconciliation bills in the late 1980s and 1990s to farm bill reforms as recently as 2014," Duvall said. "At the time of passage, the 2014 farm bill was
estimated to contribute $23 billion to deficit reduction over 10 years. The farm bill was the only reauthorization bill that voluntarily offered savings during the 113th Congress. It is difficult to think of another sector of the economy that has contributed so much, so
consistently, over the last several decades."
The National Corn Growers Association said in a statement that the budget cuts the federal crop insurance program by $28.5 billion over the 2018-2027 period, and eliminates funding for the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development.
"It's clear that this budget was written without input from farmers who would be severely affected," Ron Moore, president of the American Soybean Association, said in a statement.
Typically, farmers pay a portion of their insurance premiums and USDA covers the rest, said Jeff Harrison, a lawyer who represents the Crop Insurance Professionals Association.
The budget now goes to Congress, which will likely write its own version of the nation's next spending plan.
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