Feenstra Urges Immediate Passage of Farm Bill; Calls on Senate Democrats to Act

HULL, IOWA – Today, more than 100 days after every Republican and four Democrats on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee passed the Farm Bill, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) released the following statement urging immediate passage of the Farm Bill before the September 30 expiration and calling on Senate Democrats to act:

“It has been more than 100 days since I voted for, and the House Agriculture Committee passed, the Farm Bill. Yet, during that time, Senate Democrats have not even bothered to release their own bill text or work with Republicans to support our farmers and producers before the September 30 expiration of the Farm Bill. Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee wrote a Farm Bill that strengthens crop insurance, increases reference prices, opens new export markets, invests in agriculture education, and keeps China away from our farmland. I strongly encourage Senate Democrats to work with us to support our farm families and American agriculture.”

Feenstra introduced 10 bills included in the Farm Bill, either partially or in their entirety:

1. The Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act, which would extend vital crop and livestock insurance protections to new, beginning, and veteran farmers to lower their insurance payments during their most vulnerable time – the first ten years in business.
2. The Fortifying Refrigeration Infrastructure and Developing Global Exports (FRIDGE) Act, which would develop the infrastructure – including cold-chain storage and port improvements – to ship Iowa beef, chicken, turkey, pork, grains, specialty crops, and other perishable goods worldwide and diversify our trading partners.
3. The Safe American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, which would codify USDA’s role in negotiating regionalization agreements that allow livestock, poultry, and other animal products to be safely exported in the event of an animal disease outbreak.
4. The Foreign Agricultural Restrictions to Maintain Local Agriculture and National Defense (FARMLAND) Act, which would enhance oversight on foreign land ownership by increasing transparency, requiring reporting on farmland owned by our adversaries, and imposing penalties on any person knowingly falsifying Agriculture and Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) filings.
5. The Rural Broadband Modernization Act, which would provide grants and loans to rural communities to help expand rural broadband access, construct the necessary infrastructure for broadband deployment, and prioritize areas that lack access to broadband.
6. The Snap Back Inaccurate SNAP Payments Act, which would strengthen the integrity of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – commonly referred to as SNAP – by cutting down on overpayments of SNAP benefits.
7. The Farmers First Act, which would expand and improve behavioral health services in rural communities and connect farmers and those in times of crisis with trained medical professionals to receive the personalized care that they need.
8. The Genome to Phenome Initiative Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize the Genome to Phenome Initiative to support continued research at Iowa State University to increase crop yields – particularly corn – while keeping costs low for Iowans.
9. The Livestock Indemnity Program Improvement Act, which would cut the timeframe for payment rate adjustments from the Livestock Indemnity Program down from annually to every three months so that our producers and their families receive a fair and accurate price for their livestock when severe storms strike or animal disease spreads. 
10. The Precision Agriculture Loan Program Act, which would promote precision agriculture loans to help farmers lower their water usage, increase yields, and decrease input costs.

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