Farms and ranches are the heart of North Dakota. Agriculture is the state’s number one industry, contributing over $4 billion to our economy. One of my top objectives in Washington is to ensure our agricultural producers and our local communities get a fair shake when it comes to farm policy, trade deals, and other issues important to rural areas.
With Congress in the middle of conference negotiations on the farm bill, the fight to protect and improve crop insurance, and the ongoing negotiations on trade agreements, much is happening in Washington that could affect North Dakota farmers and ranchers. I will continue to provide updates on this page and I encourage you to continue to visit this website and provide your input on these issues.
The Next Farm Bill:
We all know that farmers have to take on a lot of risk – farmers have to leverage huge amounts of capital and face risks that are completely beyond their control.
While crop prices might be high today, we can’t know what the future holds, especially with skyrocketing input costs due to the high price of fuel. With such high costs, a weather-related disaster could wipe out a family farm. As such, we have worked tirelessly to create a farm bill that provides risk protection and a strong safety net for farmers, but also makes a substantial improvements and investment in conservation, nutrition programs, renewable energy, and rural development.
The 2002 Farm Bill – the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act – restored part of what we lost in the 1996 bill by adding a countercyclical program that pays when prices fall. Now, as we begin on the farm bill conference, my hope is that we can continue to close holes in the farm income safety net.
As the only member of Congress on both the Ways and Means and Agriculture Committees, I will be serving on the conference committee that will iron out the differences between the House, the Senate and the White House over how to fund the farm bill. My role has been to help identify funding sources and serve as a link between the Agriculture Committee, who writes the policy, and the Ways and Means Committee, who will provide the revenue for the bill.
For the latest news on the farm bill, please visit the House Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill page at the following website: http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/FarmBill.html
Crop Insurance:
The crop insurance program, although far from perfect, is playing an increasingly important role in helping farmers manage the significant risks they face. Back in 2000, when Congress rewrote the crop insurance program, I strongly advocated for increasing the amount of funding that would go to producers to help them purchase additional coverage. We succeeded in adding over $8 billion in extra premium help for producers and it has worked. In North Dakota
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Earl receiving the Wheat Champion Award. He is joined by Dennis Wunderlich, President, United States Durum Growers Association (L) and Terry Wanzek, President, North Dakota Grain Growers Association (R) - Photo courtesy of NDGGA/USDGA
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alone, only 23 percent of insured acreage was insured at the 70 percent or higher coverage level in 2000. By 2003, that amount had increased to 68 percent. In 2007, nearly 171,000 crop insurance policies were sold in North Dakota, covering over 21 million acres. Over 165,000 of these policies – over 96 percent – were buy-up policies.
As the primary means of risk protection for farmers, I believe crop insurance is the central issue of this year’s farm bill. Unfortunately, the crop insurance program has been under wholesale attack over the past year. This attack started back in May 2007, when the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) testified in front of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform on the results of a study that GAO conducted on program integrity of the federal crop insurance program. Unfortunately, the conclusions of this study were based on faulty methodology, and provided a damaging view of the crop insurance program. As a result, the GAO report, with its faulty methodology, put a target on the back of the crop insurance program.
The first attack that we experience was on the House floor during the farm bill debate when an amendment which looked to comprehensively change the program without the guidance of those directly involved in the program was offered. I spoke out against this amendment, and we were able to defeat this effort.
In addition, I have been involved in an ongoing effort to confront the GAO over this issue. Over the past months, I have contacted GAO providing point-by-point critiques of their methods, as well as calling for a new study. In addition, I have facilitated meetings between top GAO and United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) in my ongoing effort to refine our analysis of crop insurance. As a result USDA/RMA proposed that a third party actuarial firm complete an independent analysis of crop insurance profitability, assuring an unbiased and balanced comparison.
I will continue to closely monitor this issue, as well as to advocate for maintaining and improving the crop insurance program.
Trade Negotiations:
On even ground, North Dakota farmers can produce a better quality product than any in the world. The key is leveling that ground.
The Administration continues to focus on several individual free trade agreements and the ongoing World Trade Organization negotiations. I strongly believe that we cannot and should not bargain away the interests of our farmers and ranchers at the trade table.
I will continue to examine trade agreements closely with an eye for what real benefits they bring the people of North Dakota. Some trade agreements, such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), open up our markets to subsidized sugar from Central America and pose too great a threat to our sugar industry in the Red River Valley. Those trade agreements are simply unacceptable.
Trade brings a lot of benefits to our agricultural industry in North Dakota. But we have to make sure that – in all trade negotiations – our farmers receive the fair deal they deserve.
