ROSEVILLE, Ill. — The president of the American Soybean Association was in Washington, D.C. Tuesday. Ron Moore, along with his counterparts from many agricultural commodity organizations, testified at a House ag subcommittee hearing. Moore says there are a few items on the top of the farm bill agenda for the American Soybean Association.
Moore : First of all, we want to make sure crop insurance stays viable and is a robust program to provide a safety net for farmers across the country that raise commodity crops. Secondly, we want to make sure the ARC and PLC programs stay as a choice that farmers have as they decide to either protect revenue or price, depending on their particular situation and crop prospects.
One of the ideas ASA floated to the legislators is to change the ARC payments calculation. Currently, it uses a five-year olympic price average for covered commodities. This throws out the high and low price and makes the calculation on the average of the middle three. Using all five, given the current history, would raise the calculated price. Moore concedes whatever is done to change the next version of the farm bill will be constrained by the federal budget. He sees no opportunity for USDA’s safety net programs to include new money.
— Ron Moore, Farmer & President American Soybean Association and Todd E. Gleason, Farm Broadcaster
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