The Time is Now to Pass a Farm Bill
By Keely Ana Dillon
Louisiana Farm Bureau News
Regardless of whether or not you’ve ever set foot on a farm, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act would impact you.
The Farm, Food and National Security Act is the U.S. House of Representatives’ version of the Farm Bill. It is a key piece of legislation that has the potential to affect an array of agricultural and food policies.
Those policies affect farmers like Brett Fletcher. Fletcher is a corn and soybean farmer in Franklin Parish. This year, he’s harvesting his eighth crop. Despite this year’s good yields, he is nowhere close to breaking even.
“It makes it hard for us to keep doing what we’re doing,” Fletcher said.
A new Farm Bill is generally written every five years. The 2018 Farm Bill was originally intended to last five years. However, it was extended for an additional year and will expire on September 30. The passing of the Farm Bill is critical to ensure food stability for all citizens. It would also help farmers, like Fletcher, stay afloat when times are tough.
This marks the third straight year Fletcher has struggled to make ends meet.
“In 2022, the rain wiped out all of our bean crops and I had to sell them for salvage. Last year, we had good grain prices in the spring, but if you didn’t take advantage of that price, the market just fell out and hasn’t recovered since.”
These unfortunate circumstances are the devastating reality for farmers across the country. High input costs and low prices are just two of the challenges leading to financial problems for farmers.
“This is important,” Fletcher said. “Local farms keep jobs for the whole community. If farmers weren’t here, people wouldn’t have money to spend at the grocery stores, go out to eat, keep people employed, or keep money rolling into this community.”
Agriculture is the backbone of the U.S. economy, but unlike other businesses, farmers don’t set their own prices. Low commodity prices have hurt farmers’ wallets across the country, and some don’t know if they will be in business much longer. This is why the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation (LFBF) is fighting for a new Farm Bill.
“That’s why we’re Farm Bureau, the Farm Bureau family,” LFBF Director of Commodities and Public Policy Andy Brown said. “When one of our brothers or sisters are in a bind, we have to rally.”
Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation is known for diligently working to support farmers, and will continue this advocacy.
“They have unique challenges that no other businesses face,” Brown said. “They don’t get to set their prices and that’s part of the whole system. We want to compete on the international scale that benefits our overall U.S. economy, and have that as a trading tool. If we’re going to go under that system, we must have protections in place for those people.”
According to Brown, safety net programs have proven to be ineffective over the past several years. Nevertheless, Fletcher continues to wake up each day and work to put food on our tables.
“Even with the bad prices, you still have to get up with a smile on your face, put on your boots and keep going,” Fletcher said.
Brown would like all people affected by the Farm Bill to take action and call their representative in Congress and urge them to support the Farm, Food and National Security Act as passed by the House Agriculture Committee.
“Call those offices,” Brown said. “Leave a brief message and say, ‘Pass a Farm Bill now.’ That alone will speak volumes. We have to do all of the little things and leave no stone unturned. The time is now.”