Hoeven Discusses End of Year Ag Priorities, Opportunity to Pass a Strong Farm Bill in the 119th Congress

Hoeven Discusses End-of-Year Ag Priorities, Opportunity to Pass a Strong Farm Bill in the 119th Congress

Senator Outlines Efforts to Strengthen Farm Safety Net, Secure Disaster Assistance for Wildfires, Reduce Tax & Regulatory Burden on Producers

BISMARCK, N.D. - At the North Dakota Farm Bureau annual meeting today, Senator John Hoeven, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, outlined the priorities he is working to advance on behalf of agriculture producers, both in the remaining weeks of the 118th Congress and his planned efforts for the new Congress and under the Trump administration. This includes:

• Passing a strong farm bill that makes needed investments in the farm safety net.
• Securing disaster assistance for producers impacted by wildfires in North Dakota.
• Cutting red tape to reduce the regulatory burden on farmers and ranchers and protecting private property rights.
• Advancing 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.

"As economic conditions in farm country continue to worsen, the need to invest in the tools our farmers and ranchers count on is more urgent than ever, and it's essential that we provide stability and predictability to producers. That's why I support passing a one-year extension of the current farm bill, as well as disaster assistance to help those producers impacted by wildfires and mitigate market losses resulting from the trifecta of low commodity prices, high input costs and elevated interest rates," said Hoeven. "At the same time, we need to keep our foot on the gas to get a strong farm bill reauthorization done in the upcoming Congress. This is a tremendous opportunity to keep the farm in the farm bill, which means enhancing the affordability and coverage of crop insurance and improving the farm safety net, among other priorities."

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.

-###-