Action alert from CCI:
U.S. Senators are scheduled to debate its version of the 2018 Farm Bill this week on Wednesday, June 20.
This bill doesn’t propose the same sweeping changes as the failed House Farm Bill – which attempted to eliminate the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Still, we must improve the Senate’s draft so that it works better for family farmers, our communities, and the environment.
TAKE ACTION NOW! Iowa Senators Ernst and Grassley both serve on Senate Agriculture Committee and will be voting on key amendments that impact our work to stop the expansion of factory farms and support independent family farmers.
Changes that are needed for the Senate Farm Bill:
- Subsidy reform: Right now, loopholes in the Farm Bill allow out-of-state investors and others to collect huge farm subsidies, even if they don’t work on the farm. This contributes to unaffordable farmland for all but the wealthiest. We SUPPORT the amendment by Senator Grassley to close this loophole so that these subsidies serve actual farmers – rather than give mega-farms another leg up over young and beginning farmers.
- Guaranteed loan limits should not increase: Direct and guaranteed loans can be an important source of credit for independent and beginning farmers, but all too often, they are used to construct factory farms. One proposal in the Farm Bill is to increase loan limits. This would allow factory farm operations to receive even greater multi-million-dollar loans and take away resources from family farmers. We OPPOSE the amendment by Senator Hoeven to increase loan limits, which supports factory farms at the expense of family farmers in our state.
Click here to email Senators Ernst and Grassley about these two important amendments.
For a farm and food system that works for farmers, workers, eaters, and the environment,
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“Anybody that’s willing to apologize, particularly a politician, you ought to say, ‘Praise the Lord,’” Grassley told reporters on Capitol Hill, even though Trump never offered an apology or expressed regret for his comments.
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