BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer says the farm bill passed by the House and sent to the Senate on Wednesday has “both good results and areas of concern” for North Dakota producers.
 
     The compromise measure was approved 251-166. Cramer voted for the bill.
 
     The North Dakota Republican says the bill provides certainty for farmers and lenders going into the planting season, saves taxpayers money and expands crop insurance. But he says he worries it will add burdensome regulations for farmers, and he has concerns about making conservation compliance a condition of participating in the crop insurance program.
 
     Farm-state lawmakers have been working for more than two years to get a new five-year farm bill passed.

 

 Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a five-year farm bill.

“House passage of the federal five-year compromise farm bill today is good for our farmers and ranchers and good for American consumers. As a member of the farm bill conference committee, I worked with the conferees to come up with a compromise bill that could gain support in both the House and the Senate, as well as with Republicans and Democrats. The measure passed the House with a strong bipartisan majority of 251 to 166, with Republicans voting 162 in favor and 63 against and Democrats voting 89 in favor and 103 against. The measure now goes to the Senate for final passage.

“I want to commend Congressman Kevin Cramer, who worked hard to gain support among his colleagues in the House. In conversations with House leadership, including Speaker John Boehner, as well as Congressman Paul Ryan, I was told that Congressman Cramer worked tirelessly to win support for this key legislation for North Dakota and the nation.

“We are now working with leadership to schedule a vote on the new farm bill in the Senate as soon as possible, so that we can give our farmers and ranchers the certainty and tools they need to plan for this spring’s planting.”

 

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan, compromise Farm Bill. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation in the coming days.

 

“Getting the House to pass bipartisan legislation like the Farm Bill – with strong support from both Republicans and Democrats — is a welcome development,” said Heitkamp. “This compromise bill reduces our deficit by more than $16.6 billion and gives North Dakota farmers and ranchers the certainty they deserve to continue feeding the world. I look forward to voting in favor of it, and for the President to sign this long overdue bill into law.” 

 

A member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Heitkamp played a key role in passing a bipartisan Farm Bill through the Senate last year.

 

The compromise Farm Bill includes many important priorities Heitkamp worked to include, such as:

 

  • Reauthorize Livestock Disaster Programs – Ranchers who experienced losses due to natural disasters will be able to recoup portions of their losses, backdated when the programs initially expired in October of 2011.

 

  • Provide option for farm-level commodity program – Western states with large counties are not best served by county-level programs, because serious hardship for producers can be overlooked when losses are determined on a county-wide basis. For this reason, it is important that farmers have the opportunity to choose a farm level program that more effectively targets support where it is needed.

 

  • Support farmers experiencing wet seasons – One of the greatest risks facing North Dakota growers is wet conditions that prevent growers from planting their crops. For the commodity title to function as a risk mitigation tool that serves the needs of all regions of the country, it is important that any update to production history makes sure that acres prevented from planting are counted for participation in the farm program.

 

  • Authorize buyout program for flooded Devils Lake farmers – Farmers in the Devils Lake Basin have seen thousands of formerly productive acres lost due to the expansion of Devils Lake. The terminal lakes buyout program, which is authorized for the first time by the 2014 Farm Bill, will create a federal-state partnership program that may be used to compensate farmers for a portion of their losses.

 

  • Prevent the farm program from influencing planting decisions – Coupling planted acres with target prices may lead to incentives for growers to make planting decisions based on the payouts offered by a farm program. Nearly all of the North Dakota commodity groups have stressed the importance of decoupling planted acres from the program in order to avoid planting distortions. This is due to the fact that North Dakota manages a delicate balance, growing at times over 20 different commodities in the state and leading the nation in the production of 13 different commodities.

 

  • Authorize water retention program to address flooding in the Red River Valley – Senator Heitkamp fought to make sure targeted support will be available for multi-state, critical conservation areas like the Red River Valley.

 

  • Fund renewable energy programs – North Dakota is home to four ethanol plants and the largest biodiesel plant in North America.

 

  • Improve the wetland mitigation process – The legislation creates a wetland mitigation bank to help farmers better manage excess water on their farms while at the same time providing improved habitats for water fowl. Additionally, the legislation directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide Congress with recommendations for how the processes could be improved to better enable growers to use wetland mitigations, a process that is currently underutilized.

 

  • Enhance conservation technical assistance – A backlog at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for wetland determinations is a source of frustration for many growers in North Dakota. The compromise includes a provision to allow USDA to determine funding amounts for technical assistance.

 

  • Enrich pollinator habitats – The compromise bill directs USDA to encourage the protection and enhancement of pollinator habitat as a part of the conservation plans voluntarily agreed to by producers.