Farm Policy is about Food
By Rep. Kristi Noem
Trying to explain the agriculture industry in D.C. is always interesting, but it’s important more people – especially those who can vote on farm policy – understand where their food comes from. They should know the kind of capital farmers bury in the ground each spring in the form of seed and fertilizer with the hope of getting the crop and prices needed to keep their operation going. Lawmakers ought to understand the risk that comes with running a ranch – and the devastating blow a drought can deal to a family who’s been in the business for generations.
It’s been a tough year. Good portions of our commodities – corn, soybeans, wheat and oats – have been rated as poor or very poor already. The drought has devastated pastures, creating a feed shortage that’s forced some ranchers to begin selling off yearlings and cow-calf pairs.
The safety nets provided through the Farm Bill are built for years like this. During the 2014 Farm Bill debates, for instance, I fought hard to preserve the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and make it permanent. The program has now been triggered for several South Dakota counties that have been categorized in extreme drought and I’ve urged the USDA to act quickly to provide these ranchers relief.
Additionally, after a personal request to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, I was grateful to see the USDA open South Dakota CRP acres for grazing in some areas. The agency has also allowed CRP contract holders to donate the hay harvested for mid-contract management purposes to livestock producers in drought-stricken areas. I’m hopeful these changes will give ranchers a few more options.
While fighting for immediate relief in the face of drought, I’m also focused on producing long-term gains for South Dakota’s ranchers.
Around 95 percent of the world’s consumers live outside U.S. borders, so gaining access to outside markets is critical.
Most recently, the Trump administration announced the end of a 13-year ban on U.S. beef imports to China. Today, the Chinese beef import market totals around $2.5 billion and I’m hopeful American-grown beef will gain a significant share of that market.
Additionally, in my role as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, I’ve put pressure on the U.S. Trade Representative to strengthen agriculture provisions during the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation. Since the agreement first took effect in the mid-1990s, South Dakota’s exports to Canada and Mexico have increased 969 percent; I’d like to see that growth continue.
It’s getting increasingly difficult to find lawmakers who understand what life is like for those involved with agriculture. In fact, this Congress, just 26 of the 535 members of Congress claim farming or ranching as an occupation. What’s more, a survey conducted for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy recently received nationwide attention after finding that nearly one in 10 adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. You can’t make this stuff up!
It sounds silly, but if people can’t understand how chocolate milk is produced, imagine how difficult it will be to explain the need for a Livestock Forage Program or an ag-friendly NAFTA. We need to take the time to educate folks about where their food comes from. Farm policy is food policy. And if Americans are going to continue to have the world’s safest and most reliable food supply, we need to make sure the farmers and ranchers growing that food have the safety nets and strong markets needed to survive from one generation to the next.
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