Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow said it must be a bipartisan bill to get a farm bill done. When unveiling her farm bill plan, the Michigan senator said she had three major goals; keeping farmers farming, keeping families fed and keeping rural communities strong. The bill enhances crop insurance “for small farmers, for specialty crops as well as large farmers.” The commodity title includes a minimum of a five percent reference price increase for all crops. Traditionally, dairy and sugar policy is in the crosshairs during a farm bill debate. Stabenow is taking steps to strengthen both titles. “The Dairy Margin Coverage program seems to have worked really well, the biggest concerns we heard about was with smaller farms; they go to tier 1 basically,” said Stabenow. “We also update some things for sugar around loan rates.” Listen to the Stabenow news briefing with members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.
