Hoeven Urges Members of North Dakota Farmers Union to Help Advance Ag Disaster Assistance Package

Hoeven Urges Members of North Dakota Farmers Union to Help Advance Ag Disaster Assistance Package

Senator Working to Secure Ag Disaster Relief in Year-End CR, Outlines Efforts to Enhance Farm Safety Net

BISMARCK, N.D. - Senator John Hoeven today addressed the North Dakota Farmers Union state convention, where he outlined his efforts as a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee to provide relief and certainty to the state's farmers and ranchers. To this end, Hoeven has been working with his Senate colleagues and the incoming Trump administration, including in a recent meeting with Agriculture Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins, to:

• Secure disaster assistance for producers impacted by natural disasters and challenging markets across the United States.
  • Hoeven is working with his colleagues to secure in the Continuing Resolution a package with $12 billion of relief for economic losses and $16 billion in weather-related assistance.
  • The senator called on the members of North Dakota Farmers Union, along with agriculture stakeholders across the country, to advance this priority with members of Congress.
• Pass a strong farm bill that makes needed investments in the farm safety net.
• Advance pro-growth tax policies that help farmers, ranchers and agri-businesses recoup their costs and manage their operations, such as:
  • A low, competitive tax rate.
  • Section 199A for cooperatives and pass-through businesses.
  • Maintaining stepped-up basis for farm and ranch assets.
  • Eliminating the death tax.
  • Bonus depreciation for qualified property like farm equipment.
• Cut red tape to reduce the regulatory burden on farmers and ranchers and protect private property rights.

"We continue working to provide meaningful disaster relief for American farmers and ranchers, including those in North Dakota who have dealt with recent wildfires and a challenging market. The ag disaster assistance package we're working to advance as part of the CR is critical to get farm country through these hard times, and we need the help of groups like North Dakota Farmers Union to get it done," said Hoeven. "Once we've addressed this immediate need and are in the new Congress, we will be well-positioned to strengthen the tools available to producers, ensuring programs like crop insurance, ARC and PLC work when needed most. Doing so will help prevent the need for future ad-hoc disaster assistance."

Keeping the Farm in the Farm Bill

Hoeven continues working to secure an extension of the farm bill as part of year-end legislation. Doing so will give more time for Hoeven and his colleagues to address critical priorities for producers, including:

• Enhancing crop insurance, the primary risk management tool for many producers.
  • Improving the affordability of higher levels of coverage, consistent with Hoeven's FARMER Act, will better enable producers to weather natural disasters and reduce the need for future ad-hoc disaster assistance.
• 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.
• Strengthening livestock disaster programs, including the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP).
  • Hoeven is sponsoring legislation to better align coverage between LFP and ELAP and make these improvements permanent.
• Making programs voluntary and farmer-friendly, instead of one-size-fits-all.

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