Every five years, Congress passes legislation that sets national agricultural, nutrition, conservation and forestry policy commonly referred to as the “farm bill”.
The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee is charged with writing the Farm Bill. Michigan’s Senator Debbie Stabenow serves as Chairwoman of the Committee, which puts GreenStone and its members in a unique position to be heard with respect to what is important for Michigan agriculture and your financial cooperative.
As agriculture develops and produces a sound economic engine for our Michigan and Wisconsin agriculture and rural families, we all must work together to become more innovative and efficient in producing and delivering results. This is important for the farm and forest, as well as it is for your Farm Credit System cooperative to remain sustainable into the future.
Toward that end, we also must strengthen our voices to assure legislative and policy leaders understand at every turn what is important to afford agriculture the opportunity to maintain its economic value in service to others. Communicating in a manner that we can be heard for the 2023 Farm Bill has started, and the drum beat of our collective messaging needs to have a sustainable rhythm to be heard.
As the journey for the Farm Credit System priorities begins, you will find an outline of what is important to communicate to legislators and policy leaders for the 2023 Farm Bill to maintain our healthy GreenStone Farm Credit Services within the System well into the future.
The Farm Credit System encourages Congress to enact a Farm Bill that maintains a strong farm safety net for producers, including a strong federal crop insurance program.
Additionally, Farm Credit encourages Congress to support rural communities and agriculture by:
Boosting development of vital rural community facilities (hospitals, rural clinics, skilled nursing facilities, etc.) by clarifying Farm Credit institutions’ authority to invest in rural community facilities projects and encouraging partnerships on these projects with community banks.
Expanding access for rural businesses to equity capital investment by eliminating unnecessary restrictions on Rural Business Investment Companies (RBIC) and allowing RBICs to access federal leverage funding, like how small business investment companies operate.
Supporting the U.S.-based commercial fishing industry by allowing some fishing- related businesses to borrow from Farm Credit, like how farm-related businesses borrow from Farm Credit.
Increasing the loan limits on Farm Service Agency direct and guaranteed loan programs to better reflect the increasing costs of purchasing land and operating farms and ranches.
Strengthening rural water systems by ensuring that System’s existing water lending activities are available in communities eligible to receive USDA-guaranteed water loans.
Promoting U.S. ag exports by increasing the amount of export financing the eligible System Banks are allowed to provide.
We also continue to work on some additional proposals to:
Update and streamline FSA loan guarantee programs to make them more accessible to young, beginning, and small farmers and ranchers.
Authorize Farm Credit institutions to collect demographic information from customers on a voluntary basis and ensure that the Farm Credit Administration is the primary regulator of Farm Credit System institutions.
Reduce the cost of credit to U.S. farmers and ranchers by reducing the regulatory burden on Farm Credit System institutions while maintaining the financial safety and soundness necessary to provide credit in all economic cycles.
Improve the transparency and safety and soundness of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Company (Farmer Mac) by requiring the company to obtain and maintain ratings on its debt securities.
We also continue to monitor and engage with other leading agriculture organizations and their recommendations to amplify and unify a strong agriculture voice in other key policy areas, including:
- Conservation, Risk Management and Credit
- Energy
- Food Waste
- Forestry
- Livestock and Dairy
- Research, Extension, and Innovation
These are the messages we will be carrying forward on behalf of our association until the 2023 Farm Bill is passed as led by our Michigan Senator Stabenow.
To view the article in the online 2023 Spring Partners Magazine, click here.
