WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) published an op-ed in Agri-Pulse outlining her concerns with the Farm Bill text recently finalized by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson. In the op-ed, Budzinski calls out provisions that would negatively impact the farmers and hungry families she serves in Central and Southern Illinois.

READ: Budzinski in Agri-Pulse: Partisan Farm Bill Fails Midwest Families & Growers

Excerpt below: 

“The Farm Bill is a safety net for our families and the farmers who feed, fuel and clothe us. Unfortunately, the bill that’s been proposed by Agriculture Committee Chairman Thompson fails the Heartland in both of these critical missions. 

“Our farmers’ livelihoods are incredibly dependent on our weather and climate. The high level of uncertainty that results is the reason we’ve established safety net programs to help farmers in the event of things like drought, natural disasters and trade instability. At every meeting of my Agriculture Advisory Council, I constantly hear about the need to protect these programs and ensure that they meet the needs of our corn and soybean producers in Central and Southern Illinois. I’m deeply disappointed that the Farm Bill released by House Agriculture Committee Republicans fails to meet this mark by harming our ability to respond to emergencies and deepening regional disparities in our safety net.

“The importance of rapid response during these emergencies is exactly why the Secretary of Agriculture has access to flexibility through theCommodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to support farmers in real-time. It helped Illinois farmers receive more than $400 million in CCC assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. But instead of maintaining this flexible tool, the 2024 Farm Bill redirects more than $53 billion away from the CCC and into safety net programs like Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and the Federal Crop Insurance Program with a deeply flawed distribution.”

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READ: Budzinski in Agri-Pulse: Partisan Farm Bill Fails Midwest Families & Growers

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