Delegates at the American Farm Bureau Federation's recent annual convention in Atlanta voted to maintain a strong farm income safety net, address dairy price volatility and urge greater oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory actions.
With regard to the next farm bill, AFBF says Congress should maintain a strong safety net that consists of direct payments, a simplified Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program and the countercyclical, marketing loan and crop insurance programs. Delegates also called for a new direction in dairy policy to reduce milk price volatility. "We've seen extreme fluctuations in dairy prices, and in the last two years the dairy sector has had a tougher time than other sectors," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. "We can't continue to do the same things and expect a different outcome. We need a change in our nation's dairy policy."
The delegates adopted new policy in support of a dairy risk management program that offers protection based on gross margins after subtracting feed costs. The delegates supported creating such a program in a fiscally responsible way by backing the use of all funding previously allocated to dairy price support and Milk Income Loss Contract programs to a new risk management program.
The delegates approved a resolution calling for more congressional oversight of EPA's regulatory actions, asking Congress to assess the effects that EPA regulations would have on agriculture and to consider legislation to stop EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases. Such legislation was proposed in the previous Congress and can be expected to be re-introduced early in the 112th Congress.
