Stay Informed

Indiana Farm Bureau hosted Sen. Joe Donnelly at the Indiana State Fair to discuss what Indiana farmers and Farm Bureau members want to see in the upcoming farm bill.

The gathering, which was held on Aug. 15, included several members of the agriculture community. Each representative on the panel was allotted three minutes to share with the senator what they hoped to see in the next farm bill.  INFB President Randy Kron moderated the meeting and shared the key points important to INFB members.

The INFB farm bill task force, which consists of 30 INFB members, created a list of more than 30 policy recommendations. These recommendations were shared with the senator before the session. Some highlights include:

Crop insurance – The number one priority is to maintain the present level of crop insurance subsidies and other risk management tools. We support maintaining the current premium assistance level for the Harvest Price Option.

Conservation – We support maintaining the current 24 million acre cap on Conservation Reserve Program enrollments. We support limiting the USDA to 30 days to make wetland determinations.

Trade – We support adequate funding for all trade programs with emphasis on the Foreign Market Development Program and uniformity within the World Trade Organization implementation.

Energy – We support additional funding for the Renewable Energy for America Program in the farm bill and a prioritization of the program within the Energy title.

Credit – We support increasing the amount of authorized Farm Service Agency loan guarantees while maintaining the current funding caps on direct or operating loans.