Farm Bill Amendment Update

The bill reported by the Committee has been significantly improved these past two days.

The following amendments FOG supported have all passed:

• Brown (OH) (SA 2445) – Rural Economic Development and Beginning Producers. PASSED!!

  This amendment provides critical funding for rural jobs and new farming opportunities.

• Merkley-Feinstein-Sanders-Kerry (SA 2382) – Organic Crop Insurance. PASSED!!

  This amendment starts to level the playing field for organic farmers with respect to crop insurance.

• Durbin-Coburn (SA 2439) – Crop Insurance Reform.PASSED!!

  This amendment begins the process of targeting taxpayer support for crop insurance, saving money by reducing subsidies for mega farms.

• Chambliss (SA 2438) – Highly Erodible Land and Wetlands Conservation. PASSED!!

  This amendment brings common sense conservation protections to the farm safety net to protect the natural resources on which our food security depends.

The following amendments FOG opposed:

• Toomey (SA 2217) – Anti-Small Business Regulatory Assistance. DEFEATED!!

  This amendment would eliminate the program that provides cost-share assistance to organic farmers.

• Chambliss (SA 2432) – Anti-New Markets for Farmers. DEFEATED!!

  This amendment would have eliminated all funding for the Farmers Market Promotion Program.

• Moran (SA 2443) – Anti-Beginning Farmer Training. PASSED

  This amendment seeks to divert critical funding from the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), a successful beginning farmer training and education program, to fund state farm safety training programs. Robbing USDA’s sole beginning farmer grant program, already underfunded, to fund an unrelated program is unfair and unwise.

FOG also supports another important amendment Senate is voting on today:

• Sanders (SA 2310) – Allow GMO Labeling.

  This amendment will allow states to adopt labeling requirements for genetically engineered foods.

It’s not too late to call your Senators and weigh in on on this important issue!

For the full list of amendments and their outcome, check out the Library of Congress website.

FOG applauds the Senate for improving the bill with these important measures. We encourage passage of the bill and urge the House to begin its farm bill process as soon as possible, with a goal of reaching a final bill this September.