What is democracy? The word democracy comes from the Greek words “demos”, meaning people, and kratos” meaning power. Merriam Webster defines democracy as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people”. Democracy only works when its people are well informed, organized and have active participation in the process. The citizens must also voice their concerns and work collaboratively with their elected officials to produce clear policy choices which are constitutionally based, ensuring our freedoms and liberties.
Why did I go through all of that? I wanted to let you know that we all need to get involved in our democracy. Our democracy is lacking input and participation from its people. We all need to educate ourselves on the issues and we all need to contact our elected officials to give them guidance so their votes will be a true representation of the people they represent.
There is currently a very important bill for our community being debated and drafted in Washington, DC. It is the 2023 Farm Bill and is anticipated to be passed and funded by September 2023 which is the end of the government’s fiscal year. The first Farm Bill was passed during the Great Depression with primary focus on farm commodity support and soil conservation. Every five years, The Farm Bill is reviewed and a new bill is drafted, passed, signed by the President and funded. The current 2018 Farm Bill had a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected cost projection of $428 billion over fiscal years 2019-2023 and $867 billion through fiscal year 2028. The CBO’s most recent projection for spending of the current 2018 Farm Bill is $527 billion over fiscal years 2022-2026. This is a 23 percent increase from their previous projection.
The Farm Bill is composed of 12 titles; however, four titles receive approximately ninety-nine percent of the funding. These titles are commodities, conservation, nutrition, and crop insurance. The seven titles receiving the remaining one percent are trade, credit, rural development, research, forestry, energy, horticulture and miscellaneous.
The commodities title varies and is dependent upon commodity prices and agriculture needs. A few programs provided in this title protects farmers from low commodity specific prices; provides payments when county revenue for the crop falls below county guarantee; provides producers opportunities for interim financing at harvest to assist with the producers cash flow and prevents the producers for having to sell their commodities when the market prices are at all-time lows during harvest; and supplements the dairy producer when the difference between the national milk price and the average feed price falls below the coverage amount.
The conservation title covers programs for environmental stewardship of agricultural lands and improve management practices on active lands. A few programs provided in this title are the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).
The nutrition title provides programs to assist low-income families with affordable food. These programs are federal level facilitated by the USDA’S Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and operated at a federal-state partnership to determine household eligibility. A few of the programs covered under this title are Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
The crop insurance title provides the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) an essential risk management service for producers in times of low commodity prices and insured natural disasters. The FCIP consists of thirteen private insurance companies who issue and service crop insurance policies. These companies provided policies in 2021 which covered approximately 450 million acres.
The USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) sets the rates for the insurance premiums and provides administrative operations of the FCIP including approval and support of insurance products and risk management of the insurance companies.
The information provided concerning the Farm Bill is a very short brief overview of a comprehensive and complex bill. The Farm Bill is expected to face economic challenges this year due to current supply chain disruptions, inflation, higher commodity prices and higher input prices. The 2023 Farm Bill is very important to our community and our agriculture community. There are several ways you can participate in the bill process and make sure your voice is heard in our democracy. Below please find contact information, committee information, form links and emails for your input. The hearings have already started, and the legislative process is under way for the 2023 Farm Bill. The first House Ag Committee commenced hearings in March of 2022 and the Senate Ag Committee held its first Farm Bill Hearing on April 29, 2022.
The House Committee on Agriculture for the 118th Congress is composed of 16 returning members and 11 new members. Florida does have Representative Kat Cammack (FL-03) on the committee. Representative Cammack can be contacted at the following offices.
Washington DC Office Gainesville District Office
2421 Rayburn House Office Building 5550 111th NW Boulevard
Washington, DC 20515 Gainesville, FL 32653
Phone: (202) 225-5744 Phone: (352) 505-0838
Also the House Committee on Agriculture has provided a form for your input. Link provided below.
https://agriculture.house.gov/forms/form/?ID=2&Preview=true
The United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry is composed 22 members and Florida is not represented on the committee. However, you can contact our local U.S. Senator Rick Scott at the following offices.
Washington DC Office Pensacola Office
502 Hart Senate Office Building 221 Palafox Place, Suite 420
Washington, DC 20510 Pensacola, FL 32502
Phone: (202) 224-5274 Phone: (850) 760-5151
Also the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry has provided a form and email address for your input. The form link is provided below. Email: FarmBill2023@ag.senate.gov
https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/farm-bill-input
Hope you will take a minute to provide positive feedback to both the House and Senate Committees on how to improve this bill. Our democracy is dependent on all citizens’ voices.
Published | Jackson County Times | January 26, 2023