Nearly 400 farm, nutrition and conservation groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation and National Farmers Union have written congressional budget letters urging Senate and House leaders to reject calls for additional cuts to the 2014 Farm Bill.
The groups say Congress passed sweeping changes to the nation’s food and farm policy that included significant deficit reduction just over one year ago.
The 2014 Farm Bill required over three years of debate in both chambers of Congress and ended with the consolidation of over 100 programs and cuts to mandatory spending across many titles.
The groups say these cuts came in addition to those already in effect due to sequestration and the farm bill was estimated to contribute 23-billion dollars to deficit reduction over 10-years when including sequestration.
NFU President Roger Johnson says the 2014 Farm Bill was a great victory for America’s farmers and ranchers because it provided them with much-needed stability and also a huge win for taxpayers who will realize real savings from budget cuts made by the legislation.
The coalition opposes re-opening any title of the Farm Bill during the consideration of the 2016 Budget Resolution.
Johnson says the farm bill has been debated and passed and should be left alone.
