The farm bill has been finalized and that conference report has been released, paving the way for a vote soon. House Ag Ranking Member Collin Peterson says with the bill scored by CBO, it can move to a vote. He’s confident it will pass now that the forestry language and SNAP reform have been removed from the final legislation.
He says this farm bill is not largely different from the previous one, but he’s worried it will not provide an adequate safety net, in light of low commodity prices and trade upsets. However, farmers can annually choose between ARC and PLC and do yield adjustments in 2020. Plus, RMA yields will be used to figure payments, rather than NASS data.
But Peterson says dairy producers got the best deal, especially smaller operations.
Peterson says the bill increases CRP acreage by 3 million acres, but the program is being reformed. Payments will be capped at 90-percent of the rental rates in the county for continuous and 85-percent for general signup.
