Brandon Williams: “the farm bill before the House today represents an abandonment of the economic security that has assisted farmers in…”

“the farm bill before the House today represents an abandonment of the economic security that has assisted farmers in Montana and the Nation in times of low prices for farm commodities. The bill undermines long-standing, traditional income-protection measures such as target prices and deficiency payments. It also torpedoes recent farm-policy reforms made in the 103d Congress, taking the easy way out and avoiding the difficult and necessary work such as the long-overdue revamping of the Federal Crop Insurance program now in its infancy. And it dismisses the need for improvements in the Federal Conservation Reserve Program, limiting CRP to existing contracts at a time when many Montanans realize that CRP needs to be more precisely targeted to the most highly erodible lands, with an eye toward enhancing wildlife habitat, water quality, and other environmental benefits. Frankly, in an effort to sell CRP in the first year or so of bidding, many highly productive, less erodible lands were accepted in an effort to get the program on its feet. Other lands that would benefit more, and are more suitable to permanent vegetation than to annual crops, have been excluded. If H.R. 2854 becomes the law of the land, farmers who have participated in farm programs in the past would be fools not to sign up in the new program, which guarantees them a Government check whether they farm or not.”