U.S. Farmers Have Been Blessed by God to Produce Food and Fiber for America
By Klodette Stroh
My daily prayers are that American farmers have a good year, in which they produce safe food and fiber for the people of this great country.
However, American farmers’ operating margins are being squeezed each year due to rising labor, fuel, seed, fertilizer, equipment and interest rate costs.
My husband Rick and I grow crops with flood irrigation, and the cost of fuel to irrigate our crops was unbelievable this year. Perhaps we need to count our blessings because we have the farm bill to protect our country’s food supply since agriculture is the foundation of American society.
It is very important to acknowledge the importance of the farm bill, which encompasses hundreds of millions of dollars and touches every part of the food system. Members of U.S. Congress who represent the taxpayers of this country revise and evaluate the importance of the farm bill every five years and then proceed to pass it.
Unfortunately, there have been groups from both the far left and far right who want to cut holes in this farmers’ safety net, and they will use every opportunity to do so.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
The farm bill covers both agricultural and nutritional policy by design.
In the 1970s, lawmakers included the food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is included in the farm bill to encourage urban lawmakers to support programs benefiting rural farming areas. It also incentivizes lawmakers representing rural areas to support a program to benefit the urban poor.
The last farm bill, passed in 2018, expired in September 2023 and is running on a one-year extension. Congress negotiates a new farm bill every five years.
The 2023 Farm Bill was extended in September of 2023 to be negotiated in 2024 and has a price tag of $1.5 trillion attached to it.
In the latest draft of a $1.5 trillion measure known as the farm bill, Republicans in Congress have plans to spend $50 billion over the next decade to raise price floors for major agricultural products such as corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and peanuts.
But to pay for those new prices, the House version of the bill would scrap a 2018 change in the law which allowed the president to increase benefits in SNAP, which subsidizes groceries for nearly 42 million Americans each month.
President Joe Biden used this authority in 2021 to boost funding by the largest amount in farm bill history.
Farm bill sugar programs
Another commodity that is a part of the farm bill is the sugar program, and the world sugar market is notorious for having a volatile market.
Learning from past experiences is vital to ensuring the same mistakes are not repeated, and our country learned a good lesson years ago.
In 1974 when the U.S. Sugar Act expired after it had been in place for 40 years, worldwide prices skyrocketed to 60 cents per pound, and American consumers suffered. After a period of time, it dropped to three cents per pound, forcing many American sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers out of business, but consumers found no savings in their food prices.
To protect taxpayers from sugar prices and the insecurity of supply, in 1981 Congress included a sugar program in the farm bill. It stabilized the price at a reasonable level and assured American consumers and giant sugar users such as candy, cereal and soft drink makers a reliable and high-quality supply of pure natural sugar.
There is no doubt American farmers create jobs and bring prosperity to this country. A prime example is sugar farms, which comprise roughly 11,000 sugar farmers.
America’s sugarbeet and sugarcane industry provides 142,000 direct and indirect jobs with nearly $20 billion in economic impact nationwide with no cost of operation to our government.
Recognizing the importance of agriculture
Farmers are the backbone of this country, and as taxpayers we have a patriotic obligation to protect our farming industry. Currently, there is worldwide economic commotion and now is the time to support American farmers who were the founders of our nation.
Please keep in mind, despite government regulation and financial difficulties, American farmers have provided food and fiber to keep our nation fed through wars, disasters and calamities.
Without the hard work and sacrifices of our farmers, we will not have a stable American-produced food supply.
Our young American families need to have reasonable food prices to rear their children. The farm family is the basic unit shaping life in America, and for over 200 years, agriculture has developed the countryside while providing rural strength.
I pray as soon as the election is over the new administration recognizes the importance of our agriculture sector and provides full support.
History is a wise teacher, and if we look back and learn from our past mistakes, we will prosper from this great teacher.
Klodette Stroh is the national sugar chairman of Women Involved in Farm Economics and a producer in Powell. She can be reached at strohfarms@tritel.net.
