[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 9, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2669-S2671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. HOEVEN (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Ms. Ernst, Mrs. Fischer,
Mr. Grassley, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, and Mr. Marshall):
S. 4081. A bill to amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to provide
premium support for certain plans of insurance, and for other purposes;
to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I rise to talk about legislation that we
are introducing today. It is called the FARMER Act. ``FARMER'' stands
for Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience, and
that is just exactly what this farm bill does, what this legislation
does. Really, we think this is an important step to getting to a farm
bill--and hopefully this year--because it is all about enhancing crop
insurance.
I am very pleased to be joined here on the floor by our ranking
member on the Ag Committee, Senator Boozman, from Arkansas. He is
cosponsoring the legislation, as are other members of our Ag Committee,
including Senator Ernst of Iowa, Senator Fischer of Nebraska, Senator
Grassley of Iowa, Senator Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, and Senator
Marshall of Kansas--all Senators who have significant ag production in
their State, both in terms of crops and livestock.
And this is all about what we have right here: ``Keeping the farm in
the farm bill.'' As a matter of fact, it is about putting more farm in
the farm bill, and that is going to have to happen in order to get a
farm bill accomplished this year.
Well, how do we do that? What does that mean? That means
strengthening crop insurance, our farmer's No. 1 risk management tool,
and also updating ARC and PLC, which is the countercyclical safety net.
ARC--Ag Risk Coverage--and PLC--Price Loss Coverage, that is the
countercyclical safety net that our farmers rely on; so crop insurance,
the No. 1 risk management tool for farmers nationwide, combined with a
countercyclical safety net, updating ARC and PLC to make it relevant
given the incredible increase we have seen in input costs that our
producers face.
When you look at fertilizer and all the inputs--fuel, everything
else--all the inputs that our farmers and our ranchers are required to
purchase now to raise that crop or for ranchers to raise those animals,
those costs have gone up dramatically. And commodity prices for our
food products have come down, which really puts pressure on our farmers
and ranchers. That is why it is so important--so important--that we
update crop insurance and the countercyclical safety net to make it
relevant--to make it relevant--in terms of risk management for
producers across this great Nation.
We have a huge ag industry, very diverse, across all of our States,
and so this really is fundamental--fundamental--to getting a farm bill
done and done right and hopefully done this year.
So this bill, as I say, focuses on the crop insurance piece. And so
what does it do? Well, it does two things: One, it strengthens crop
insurance by increasing the premium support and making it more
affordable to purchase crop insurance and, two, it enables our farmers
to insure to a higher level.
There are two ways that they do that. One is at the enterprise level.
So at the farm level, they buy crop insurance. This makes it more
affordable to buy up to a higher level of coverage--say, 80 or 85
percent coverage on a more affordable basis--and then they can get a
second-tier policy that helps them. It is called Supplemental Coverage
Option. That is actually based on a countywide average.
So they can buy that supplemental coverage to insure up to a higher
level, up to 90 percent, on a realistically affordable basis.
Now, the other thing it does is it calls on the Secretary of USDA--
the Secretary of Agriculture--to look at the supplemental coverage. For
States that have big counties like my home State of North Dakota or
Senator Boozman's State of Arkansas or Texas and others, it requires
that RMA--Risk Management Agency that provides crop insurance--looks at
how these policies are done to make it work better for States that have
large counties, which many of our States do.
[[Page S2670]]
So those are the kind of enhancements to crop insurance that really
serve our farmers, and it is not just our farmers. We are also doing
more for our ranchers and our livestock producers, but really it is
much more than that. This legislation helps our farmers; it helps our
taxpayers; and it helps all Americans.
And let me touch on that for just a minute. First, in terms of our
farmers, obviously, they face tremendous challenges due to weather--
they have no control over the weather--and prices.
You know, we have this network of family farms and ranches across
this country. They are price-takers. They don't get a chance to set any
prices. So crop insurance, that is why it is their No. 1 risk
management tool because when they don't have a crop or they have a very
substandard crop, this crop insurance enables them to stay in the game
so that family farms can continue to be around for the next year, so
that ranchers can continue to be around for the next year.
It is vitally important when they have no control over, like I say,
weather or prices. It is to keep them in the game for the long term.
That benefits our taxpayers because we have the highest quality,
lowest cost food supply in the world, and this is the most effective
way to keep that network of family farms and ranchers out there on the
land.
And that really benefits every single American every single day
because what do our farmers do? They produce food, fuel, and fiber for
this Nation. Well, that is national security, for sure. Food security
is national security. But think about this for a minute. We have the
highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. Every American
benefits from that every day. Every time you have something to eat in
this country that you buy in our great grocery stores, brought to them
from the farm, from the ranch--we have the highest quality and the
lowest cost.
Americans spend less of their budget on food, and they have better
food than anyone else--more choices, more options, higher quality. But
Americans spend less of their budget on food than any other developed
country, brought to them by our farmers and ranchers.
That is a remarkable benefit. That is a benefit that every American
receives every single day. And that is why it is so important that we
get farm policy right. That is why we have got to get it right.
And here is the final point I want to make before I turn things over
to my esteemed colleague Senator Boozman. We can't take this network of
farmers and ranchers that we have in this country for granted. We have
about 16 million people involved in agriculture, directly or
indirectly. But our food is brought to us by farms and ranches, a
diverse set of family farms and ranches across this country, and we
can't take that for granted.
And if we don't have this safety net, if we don't have crop insurance
that they can afford to buy--which they buy--and if they can't access
this countercyclical safety net, we don't have that network of farms
and ranches.
Like a lot of other industries in this country, we can end up with
just a few big companies. And I wonder how that is going to work out
because all that competition you see from these millions of farmers and
ranchers providing that highest quality, lowest cost food supply, that
could change, right? So we can't take this for granted.
So when it comes to getting the farm bill done, we have got to get it
right. We have got to get it right. And that is what this is all about:
getting crop insurance right and making sure that our farmers can both
access crop insurance and the countercyclical safety net--ARC and PLC--
at the same time. They need both.
Look, this is about getting a farm bill done. This legislation needs
to be included in the farm bill, and it will go a long way toward
making sure that we get a farm bill done and hopefully done this year.
And I would like now to turn it over to Senator Boozman for his
remarks.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I want to thank my good friend from North Dakota Senator
Hoeven for his leadership on this issue. Under normal circumstances, we
would have been celebrating the passage of a new farm bill by now.
Unfortunately, we are not there yet, and our farmers continue to face
far from normal circumstances. But we are making progress, and I am
committed to meaningfully addressing the needs of farmers, ranchers,
and rural communities.
Alongside bolstering the title 1 reference prices, maintaining and
improving crop insurance is at the top of the list for my farm bill
priorities. But more importantly, these are the top priorities of
farmers across the country.
The first of many farm bill listening sessions I have participated in
started with a roundtable in Senator Hoeven's home State of North
Dakota. The takeaway from that event has been echoed across the
countryside and in meetings throughout Washington: We need more
``farm'' in the farm bill.
This next farm bill must update the risk management tools farmers and
ranchers need to succeed in order to reflect the nature of the
challenges under which they operate today. Here is the reality:
Producers are experiencing unprecedented challenges, regulatory
uncertainty, and historic volatility in the farm economy, all of which
are predicted to even get worse.
A producer from Minnesota told me recently that record high input
costs, coupled with declining crop prices, would mean that she would
have to harvest a record yield just to break even. That is not a
scenario farm families want to pass on to the next generation.
Historic inflation, rising interest rates, a record trade deficit,
devastating natural disasters, and global disruptions will make it more
difficult for our farmers to succeed in the years to come. And with an
outdated farm safety net, described by a Texas farmer as 2 inches above
the concrete, agriculture is left wondering what level of crisis is
necessary to compel Washington to act.
I commend Senator Hoeven's leadership in introducing the FARMER Act
and proactively addressing the needs of farmers and ranchers who have
asked for improvements to the Federal Crop Insurance Program.
The FARMER Act includes critical components to modernizing the farm
safety net for producers across all regions and all commodities. From
wheat in North Dakota to cotton in Georgia, to peaches in New Jersey,
corn in Illinois and Colorado, to apples in Vermont and soybeans in
Ohio, producers in every State could reap the benefits of more
affordable crop insurance options.
The strength of this approach is underscored by the endorsement of
over 20 grassroots organizations representing the voices of farm
families from across the country.
We can pass a farm bill that strengthens title 1 and title 11, while
also making improvements across every other title and meet our shared
goals.
This isn't an either-or decision. The next farm bill provides an
incredible opportunity to make things right for farmers, ranchers,
rural communities, and those in need. Working together we can protect
and enhance voluntary conservation programs, provide investments needed
to open new export markets, and expand existing markets, build on
research that allows our farmers to do more with less while reducing
environmental impacts, protect the health of our Nation's herds and
flocks and help rural communities flourish and prosper.
Passing such a bill is never an easy task, but it is one that this
body has come together to accomplish time and time again. I look
forward to continuing to work with Chairman Stabenow and my Senate
colleagues to pass a farm bill that achieves these goals, and I very
much appreciate the work of Senator Hoeven and his contribution to that
process.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I want to say thank you to the ranking
member on the Senate Ag Committee, Senator Boozman. And I am especially
proud to be here with the Senator from the great State of North Dakota,
Senator Hoeven, and support our FARMER Act.
Crop insurance is the backbone of every farm bill. When I talk to
producers back home, they tell me crop insurance is their first,
second, and third priority. It is important not just to producers, but
it also helps stabilize groceries on the other end by having a
[[Page S2671]]
good, constant supply by allowing the farmer to plant next year's crop
after Mother Nature strikes. It helps keep those prices down at the
grocery store as well.
You know, I am often asked why crop insurance is so important. And I
want to quote the late President John F. Kennedy when he summed up the
plight of the farmer pretty well. This is what President Kennedy said:
The farmer is the only person in our economy who buys
everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays
the freight both ways.
Look, our input costs are driving the value of our crops up, and thus
the cost of crop insurance is going up along with it. Unfortunately,
commodity prices don't reflect that. Instead, we are seeing an alltime
drop in farming income--year over year drop that we have seen in
decades.
But the FARMER Act truly puts ``farm'' back in the farm bill with a
reasonable cost. It helps take on this added burden of crop insurance,
which, again, allows the farmer to plant next year's crop and makes us
the most single most important program at USDA.
I am proud to be here today urging that this body pass the FARMER
Act--perhaps included on the farm bill would be a good place for it as
well--to protect the economic security of rural America and keep food
prices stable for American consumers.
I am happy to yield back to the Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. I thank Senator Marshall. Obviously, he speaks on behalf
of a very important ag State--Kansas. I thank Senator Boozman and all
the cosponsors on this legislation.
As Senator Marshall said very well, this is the most cost-effective
way to make sure that we keep our farmers and ranchers out there
providing this incredible food supply that benefits every American
every day.
One final point that Senator Boozman referenced. We have the support
already--the endorsement of virtually all of the major farm groups, you
know, the farm production groups in the country representing our great
farmers. Their endorsement tells you very clearly that we need to have
this enhancement to crop insurance in the farm bill to get the farm
bill done.
Again, on behalf of our sponsors of this legislation, I would like to
thank them. We are going to work very diligently to do everything we
can to work with all of our colleagues to get a farm bill done.
______