The Budget proposal released by the White House includes a cut to crop insurance.
The budget request to Congress calls for a ten-year, $18 billion cut to the federal crop insurance program.
The request comes after Congress rejected a $3 billion cut to crop insurance late last year after initially approving the cuts as part of a budget deal at the time.
House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway of Texas said the proposal would deal a “severe blow” to farmers and ranchers who already have suffered a 56 percent drop in net farm income.
Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas echoed Conway’s statement, adding further that “farm country is tired of overzealous regulations and persistent attacks on rural America.”
Roberts did say the budget proposals are “essentially dead on arrival.”
The budget request also includes proposed meat inspection fees under the Food Safety and Modernization Act, and a proposed increase in agriculture research funding.
However, one of the biggest sticking points for opponents to the Administration’s budget request is the proposed $10 per-barrel oil tax, which translates to 24 cents-per-gallon of gasoline.
The President also proposed spending $8.3 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, a roughly $200 million increase over 2016.
