Farm Bill Update. Howard Olson SrVP Insurance and Communications AgCountry Farm Credit Services

Transcription

1 Farm Bill Update Howard Olson SrVP Insurance and Communications AgCountry Farm Credit Services

2 Farm Bill Update ohouse Energy & Commerce Committee Hearing

3 Farm Bill Update Agenda ocurrent Status ocrop Insurance omain changes owhat if?

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5 Current Status HR 2 passed House by 2 votes. o No Democrats voted for it. o Conaway said it was double the margin he needed HR 2 passed Senate Now in conference committee o 47 House members including Cramer (ND) and Peterson & Walz (MN) o 9 Senate members including Heitkamp & Hoeven (ND) o Both the House committee members & the Senate committee members must agree o Biggest point of contention is House SNAP work requirements

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7 Crop Insurance in the Farm Bill

8 Kind H.R / Flake - S AFFIRM Act 1. AGI Restriction Means testing 2. Premium subsidy cap at $40, Target insurance company rate of return at 8.9% of premium 4. Eliminate premium subsidy on the Revenue Protection Harvest Price 5. Premium subsidy disclosure 6. Reduce Administrative & Operating Expense cap

9 Crop Insurance Message heard loud and clear o Farm Bill hearings across the country o Hill visits by industry groups o Phone calls and s Do no harm to crop insurance

10 Crop Insurance Ranking Member Stabenow (D-MI) We can all agree that our farmers should have robust risk management tools, including strong crop insurance assistance and new tools for our dairy farmers who ve been struggling.[ ] I do not believe these critical programs should be targeted for cuts. Senator Hoeven (R-ND) We both start out recognizing that crop insurance is number one, right? So we maintain crop insurance. That s our number one risk management tool for our farmers on the safety net.

11 Crop Insurance No significant harm to crop insurance o House - Increase CAT fees from $300 to $500 o House - Increase Beginning Farmer Rancher qualification to 10 years from 5 years o House - Eliminate grants for insurance education o Both direct FCIC to research new programs Hurricane disasters Livestock death by fire and snowstorms

12 Main Changes both Sign up and choose either PLC or ARC Authority to use RMA yields for ARC No changes to sugar program Dairy Margin Protection is improved and changed to Dairy Risk Management Program (H) or Dairy Risk Coverage (S) FSA guarantee loan limits increased from $1.4M to $3.5M

13 Main Changes House PLC ref prices flex Terminates renewable energy program grants CRP increases 4 M acres to 29 M acres, 80% cap on rents Broader definition of family for program pymts Increase CAT fees from $300 to $500 BFR is increased from 5 yrs to 10 years Senate PLC ref prices are fixed Maintains renewable energy program CRP increases to 26 M acres but rental cap is higher Restricts program payment to actively engaged in farming Only one per farm operation (intention may be to include one for a spouse as it is now.) Increase FSA direct loan limits from $300k to$600k for ownership, $400k for operating Adds hemp as a legal and insurable crop Reduces AGI limit to $700k for commodity programs

14 What if? Extension o Could be a few months, 1 year, 6 years o May or may not have option to change ARC to PLC o Some programs run out of funding and would need funds appropriated Mostly conservation, research and marketing programs o Doesn t impact crop insurance or Title I programs However, could give opportunity for new debate & amendments

15 What if? Countdown to Extension o House has 6 days left o Senate has 11 days left

16 Farm Bill Update Howard Olson AgCountry Farm Credit Services