Dusty Johnson: “Commodity programs in the new farm bill will furnish America's farmers with three features to secure the farm income…”

“Commodity programs in the new farm bill will furnish America's farmers with three features to secure the farm income safety-net. These commodity programs will maintain the planting flexibility so popular under the current program, but, they will also provide more predictable support when prices are low. First, the farm bill will continue the practice of providing farmers of program crops with marketing assistance loans or loan deficiency payments, LDPs, to help them market their crops and manage price risk. These 9-month non-recourse loans provide farmers with the necessary support to make market-based decisions. Second, the farm bill will also continue to provide de-coupled direct, or fixed, payments to farmers regardless of price or production. The 1996 farm bill first introduced these direct payments, known as AMTA or production flexibility contract payments. Finally, the farm bill will complement these two payment features with a new counter-cyclical payment program to provide additional support when crop prices fall below profitable levels. These new counter-cyclical payments will also be de-coupled in a sense, because they're not directly tied to what a farmer plants. I am hopeful the revisions made to commodity programs will help restore and strengthen the safety-net for our agricultural producers.”