02.21.24

Hoeven Outlines Work To Keep Farm In The Farm Bill At Minot Chamber Agriculture Roundtable

Senator Outlines Effort to Strengthen Crop Insurance, Enhance Ag Credit Programs, Improve Livestock Disaster Programs

MINOT, N.D. – At an agriculture roundtable with Congressman Kelly Armstrong and the Minot Chamber of Commerce, Senator John Hoeven, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, outlined key priorities that he is working to include in the next Farm Bill. Hoeven outlined his efforts to keep the farm in the farm bill and ensure the legislation makes the necessary investments in tools farmers and ranchers use every day, including:

  • Maintaining and strengthening crop insurance, the primary risk management tool for many producers.
    • Improving the affordability of higher levels of coverage will better enable producers to weather natural disasters and reduce the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance.
  • Updating and improving the counter-cyclical safety net, including the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.
    • Hoeven stated that reference prices need to reflect market realities and the cost of production that farmers are currently facing.
  • Ensuring adequate access to credit by passing his legislation to modernize Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan limits as part of the Farm Bill.
  • Including the Livestock Disaster Relief Act, bipartisan legislation Hoeven introduced, in the Farm Bill to improve the Livestock Forage and Emergency Assistance for Livestock Programs to better meet the needs of ranchers impacted by natural disasters.
  • Making sure programs are voluntary and farmer-friendly, instead of one-size-fits-all, to reduce the regulatory burden on producers.

“Our producers provide the highest-quality, lowest-cost food supply in the world, and we are doing all we can to ensure that the next Farm Bill provides the support they need to continue their good work,” said Hoeven. “We must keep the farm in the farm bill and make sure that this legislation invests in the priorities of our agriculture producers. That includes enhancing crop insurance and updating reference prices to ensure the best possible farm safety net. At the same time, we’re also working to ensure access to adequate credit and to improve disaster programs. These are some of the top priorities we’ve heard about from producers, and the provisions we’re working to include in the next Farm Bill.”

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