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Progress on a CR is good news for American ag

The president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives says the Continuing Resolution released Tuesday is good news for American agriculture.  

Chuck Conner says the proposal includes much-needed financial assistance for farmers.  He says while it won’t make producers whole again, it will help. “There is assistance primarily aimed at the Southeast region of the country, which had tremendous hurricane damage,” he says.  “And that funding level is estimated at $20 billion.”

Conner says the CR includes $10 billion in general economic assistance for producers. “Because we’ve seen a real downturn in the state of the farm economy over the past several months,” he says.  “And part of that, the 10 billion in economic assistance, was the problem child in this, if you will.”

He tells Brownfield that a one-year farm bill extension is also part of the package. “The strong, strong preference would have been to have a new five-year farm bill,” he says.  “And for that five-year farm bill to contain some updated reference prices that reflected more today’s cost of production.  Unfortunately, it was just not going to be possible.”

The proposal contains a provision that would allow year-round use of E-15.  Conner says it’s great news, but was a little bit of a surprise. “That’s a significant change,” he says.  “But I think it’s going to be a nice boost for demand. And I see this being a very positive development for foreign producers.”

If passed, the Continuing Resolution would include these provisions and ensure the government remains funded through March.  The measure still needs to pass both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.

Text of the bill was released Tuesday evening.