Containing several amendments provided by U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Deb Fischer (R-NE), the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 received bipartisan approval on June 13 from the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, which is chaired by U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS).
Commonly referred to as the Farm Bill, the five-year legislation encompasses a broad array of agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy. The bill now heads to the floor of the U.S. Senate for consideration.
“The Senate Agriculture Committee’s bipartisan Farm Bill process is a reminder of how things should work in Washington – listening to the folks back home, working through issues with the other side of the aisle, then writing a good bill,” said Sen. Roberts and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), ranking member of the Senate committee, in a joint statement.
“Today marks another important step in the road to getting an on-time Farm Bill enacted into law,” the senators said following the committee’s voice vote. “We urge our colleagues to support this bill.”
Sen. Fischer, a member of the committee and chairman of the panel’s Livestock Subcommittee, voted to advance the bill, which she called important legislation for her home state of Nebraska.
“This bill continues a strong farm safety net that includes crop insurance, my number one priority going into this process,” said Sen. Fischer. “Additionally, the bill recognizes the importance of our trade promotion programs, and builds upon efforts to enhance agricultural productivity by expanding broadband access in rural America.
Two amendments Sen. Fischer sponsored were adopted unanimously in the manager’s package, she said, that would reward agricultural producers using efficient water irrigation conservation technology, support precision agriculture, and provide relief for agriculture haulers.
“Overall, I am confident this is a strong, bipartisan bill that would give Nebraska farmers and ranchers the tools and certainty needed to provide food, fuel and fiber to the world,” the senator said.
One amendment from Sen. Fischer would recognize the use of remote telemetry data systems for irrigation scheduling as a best management practice, according to information provided by the committee. The proposed amendment to the Food Security Act of 1985 would denote a finding by Congress that using such data systems in this way could “ensure that the precise quantity of necessary water is applied to crops; and saves water and energy while sustaining or increasing crop yields.”
Another measure from Sen. Fischer would clarify a livestock definition in the Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1988 by expanding the definition to include “llamas, alpacas, live fish, crawfish, and other animals,” according to text provided by the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Sen. Ernst, chair of the Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, pointed out that “timely passage of the Farm Bill is critical to providing certainty and predictability to Iowa’s farmers and ranchers.”
“Our farmers and ranchers feed and fuel the world, and the input I have received from folks across the state was invaluable in crafting this bill,” Sen. Ernst said.
Several pieces of her legislation, including reforms to conservation and commodity programs, were incorporated in the Farm Bill that Sen. Ernst said address the concerns of farmers and strengthen key programs on their behalf.
For example, the bipartisan Give our Resources the Opportunity to Work (GROW) Act of 2018, S. 2557, was included in the Farm Bill. Aimed at strengthening the Conservation Reserve Program and other conservation and environmental quality programs, Sen. Ernst introduced the bill in March, with Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) signing on as original cosponsors.
Sen. Ernst also teamed up with U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) on legislation that was included in the Farm Bill to improve the Agriculture Risk Coverage-County (ARC-CO) Level program in order to help farmers when commodity prices fall sharply. They introduced the measure, the ARC-CO Improvement Act, S. 1998, in October 2017.
In addition, according to a draft provided by the committee, a measure from Sen. Ernst to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 would add pilot projects to improve healthy dietary patterns related to fluid milk consumption among Americans who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the nation’s food stamp program.