Autauga County farmer Harold Gaines recently stood with his sons Dan and Levi as he told leaders of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee his priority for the 2018 farm bill.
“I want to be able to pass on this farm to the next generation and for them to be successful,” Gaines said as Sens. Luther Strange, R-Alabama, and Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, toured his farm.
Roberts chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Strange is Alabama’s first senator on the committee since the late Howell Heflin 20 years ago.
“This family is a great example of what folks can do to pass along the wonderful history that we have in farm families,” Roberts said. “We’ve been holding hearings all over the country and asking farmers what’s working for the farm bill and what isn’t. We hope we can do a farm bill sooner rather than later so farmers can get some predictability and plan.”
“We appreciate Sen. Strange serving on the Senate Ag Committee and bringing Chairman Roberts to meet with Alabama farmers,” he said. “The South has a significant number of crops and farming practices that are different from Sen. Roberts’ home state. We could go to Washington and talk about those differences, but there’s nothing like hearing from our farmers and seeing things first hand.
Strange pledged to be the voice for Alabama farmers in the U.S. Senate.
“For them to see first hand — touch and feel — the concerns of our farmers is really critical,” Strange said. “Farmers have to be profitable so they can continue to thrive and reinvest and attract the next generation of farmers into this wonderful career.”
Roberts said his priorities for the 2018 farm bill include preserving crop insurance funding and enhancing international trade. But he admitted maintaining current spending levels will be a challenge.
“We’re going to be operating on a very strict and stringent budget,” Roberts said. “In this environment, we’ve just got to do more with less. Farmers are used to that.
“Most of all, farmers want stability and predictability,” he added.
Ironically, the vast majority of farm bill funding doesn’t go to farmers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 80 percent of current farm-bill spending is for food stamps and nutrition programs. Crop insurance accounts for 8 percent; conservation, 6 percent; and commodity programs, 5 percent. Altogether, the Agricultural Act of 2014 (farm bill) was projected to cost $489 billion over five years.
The 2018 farm bill, which could dictate agriculture policy for six years, will be Roberts’ seventh. He is the only member of Congress to serve as chairman and ranking member on both the House and Senate agriculture committees. He praised Strange’s interest and enthusiasm on the committee.
“He’s admired on the committee,” Roberts said. “He’s doing his homework, and he’s going to be a mighty fine champion for Alabama on the Ag Committee.”
claim can now be used by manufacturers who market foods for infants that contain peanut protein. Here’s the full claim:
peanuts to determine optimum maturity date. The Henry County Extension System will be offering pod blast tests each Tuesday and Friday during the months of September and October from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. 
Peanut Producers Association (APPA) is encouraging the public to join them as they donate jars of peanut butter to the devastated areas in Texas. This humanitarian effort is being coordinated through Peanut Proud, a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization of the U.S. peanut industry.
from Camilla, Georgia, testified today before the Senate Agriculture Committee that the peanut provisions included in the 2014 Farm Bill and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program work for farmers and consumers – and must be preserved in the next farm bill.
“It’s going to be a tough fight, I don’t want anybody to fool themselves,” said Rep. Rogers about getting the next farm bill passed in Congress. He says he would like to see the legislation – which is about 80 percent nutrition programs – split just for a vote to see who votes for or against. “Neither one of them will pass on their own, but it’ll show us who our friends are.”
Rep. Scott says his number one concern is to make sure “we don’t get splits between the commodity groups and within the commodity groups” with respect to farm programs. “I think one of the big debates in the farm bill will be planted acres versus base acres, I can tell you it’s coming,” he said. “The discussion of permanent law versus temporary law is another issue that we’re going to have some honest discussion about.”