Down on the farm; what’s next?

Lawmakers raced against the clock this New Year’s Eve and successfully avoided the dreaded “fiscal cliff” for now. But along with this avoidance, an important bill - the farm bill that has been worked on for the past five years - was extended instead of undergoing a new installment.

The extension of the farm bill extension threw out the new version that had been progressing and approved through the senate; but it had not been approved by the house. Instead it extended the same programs that have been in place from the 2008 bill for the span of 2013.

“My preference would have been that we did a new five-year farm bill. More specifically the senate version, which was a very good farm bill for Nebraska,” said Mike Johanns, U.S. Senator for the state of Nebraska. “Unfortunately though, it was passed in the senate and it never did get done in the house.”

Though Johanns said that the bill extension is better than resorting back to the 1940s bill, it is still not ideal.

“We ended up with this extension and it’s less than perfect. It’s better than going back to the 1949 act which is what would have happened but it’s still, in my judgment, inadequate and my hope is we can get right on this and go to work and get the five-year bill done,” Johanns said.

While some in legislature might see problems on the horizon for Nebraskan farmers after the next year, others think the future for agriculture won’t be disrupted as much as everyone thinks.

“Crop insurance is really the big issue in Nebraska,” Johanns said. “I can tell people that they don’t have to be concerned; we still have a strong crop insurance program. Now unfortunately, I’m a little bit worried that we’re headed toward another dry year and there were some disaster programs that weren’t funded.”

“I don’t think actual producers will feel much of an impact. I will say that I was hoping for a five-year bill but that just wasn’t able to happen,” said Adrian Smith, United States Congressmen serving the 3rd District of Nebraska.

“I think producers moving forward though can expect minimal changes from what they are seeing right now and the one year extension obviously gets us through this next production season,” Smith said.

One local producer Keith Rexroth said that he doesn’t understand how agricultural issues were swept under the rug by political leaders and that producers’ biggest question is what is next.

“The biggest challenge I feel from our leadership in Washington is that we have few-to-no long term direction or decisions for which we as producers can react to,” Rexroth said.

Rexroth said that he doesn’t understand why agriculture is not a more primary focus in government action.

“Agriculture is one of the few places within our current economy that we contribute positively to our trade balance between different countries. But agriculture is also one of the last items that we actually receive value coming back for our balance of trade,” he said.

“Other countries, even though they have developed an anger or adversity to the U.S., are still receiving major aid. When we put that in position to what current agriculture receives from our own government for our aid, to me that is very unequal,” Rexroth said.

“Why are we giving Egypt what we are for their benefit and we are trying to cut two cents on every 100 dollars from our Ag. programs?”

Though Rexroth said that this extension gives producers an idea of what to expect this upcoming year, he feels as if that is not enough, especially in the drought that the Midwest is experiencing.

“The challenge for this country and for farming is ongoing as this extension refers to our challenges with dry land farming. We not only have to look at the 2013 crop year but we also need to be looking ahead to 2014 as to what we are going to do for summer fallow,” Rexroth said.

Rexroth compared the current drought to similar conditions in the 1930s.

“The drought in itself is very much a challenge as to what crops we can grow. Also what kind of inputs can we put into that crop given the scenario we are in right now just for moisture is very uncertain,” Rexroth said.

“Our drought has made a lot of the prices increase to a point because we do not have supplies,” he said. “Trying to avoid again this drought of the 2010s, how can we avoid those dust bowls? Those are the different programs needed for production,” Rexroth said.

Besides the drought, Rexroth said that lack of crop insurance is another aspect of the farm bill that has producers uneasy.

“There is some government participation with the crop insurance, so that is one aspect we would look at. One aspect being direct payments - where do they go and how do they go within the next farm program?” Rexroth said.

The producer said that there are too many uncertainties about the future and that is why so many farmers are worried.

“My question in some of these aspects is can a producer really sign up for a program for 15 years when we don’t even know what next year’s farm programs will be?” Rexroth asked.

Though there has been a lot of work on the farm bill, Rexroth said that he sees this extension as congress and the administration choosing inaction.

“The question then comes up if we couldn’t put a farm bill together in the last five years, are we not unrealistic in trying to anticipate one is going to get put together in the next year?” Rexroth asked. “There are many different aspects within this realm that we are dealing with that really has more question than it has answers.”

Both Johanns and Smith agree that a new farm bill could be created and passed within the next year.

“It’s definitely feasible but we need cooperation between the house and the senate to get it done. There is no reason why it can’t be done,” Johanns said.

“I think we can get a five-year bill passed this year. We have to rely on the process to work and realize the committee version, whether it is the house or the senate, will not be the final version,” Smith said.

Johanns said however in the event that a new farm bill could not be created in 2013, the government would have to work on finding other ways to help support farmers.

“We’re just going to have to work to get some funding in place if we don’t have a farm bill passed. But that’s never easy these days, in fact it’s very, very difficult,” Johanns said.

“There is no simple answer and part of the farm bill is trying to simplify difficult challenges. The other is a very serious challenge in only a short-term window in which our federal governments are approaching what we currently have as far as local and producers decisions,” Rexroth said. “Be it democrat, be it republican, we currently are not developing a U.S. farm bill successfully.”