Let's talk Farm Bill. Stuff has been happening. Late last week, Senate Ag Committee Chair Stabenow released a section by section proposal called the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act, and early this morning House Ag Committee Chair Thompson released draft text called the Farm, Food, and National Security Act. Before the day ends, I wanted to share a few thoughts.
First, it was heartening to see that a number of cooperative priorities, such as the extensions of the Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program and the Rural Energy Savings Program were included in both proposals.
Second, now is the time for those who care about cooperatives and rural communities to start studying the proposals and making sure Congress knows what they like. While there is good stuff in both, they are different. And we need to work together to make sure as many good ideas as possible find their way into the final Farm Bill packages.
For instance, Senate Chair Stabenow's Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act includes the Rural Partnership Program that takes a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to providing people in rural communities the tools and resources for locally-led solutions. And the big deal is that it includes base-line funding - meaning that it positions the program for secure mandatory funding, like most of the commodity, conservation, and nutrition programs already have. In regular-people talk, that means it puts rural communities at the adult table, as opposed to the folding table in the living room that doesn't get the big plate of turkey with the juiciest cuts. From the co-op perspective, it is great to see that RPP calls out co-ops as eligible partners - which makes a world of sense given how rural people have used co-ops for generations to level the playing field and ensure access to markets and infrastructure.
Here's the point: Now is the time for stakeholders to identify where the good ideas are in these proposals and work to make sure these good ideas find their way into the this evolving legislation. On behalf of its members, NCBA CLUSA plans to do just that. In fact, we are doing a virtual Hike the Hill next week to talk about these and other Farm Bill priorities, and you can sign up here. https://lnkd.in/esqxumqA
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3moSo incredible!