The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee tomorrow will begin marking up a five-year, $480 billion Farm Bill that introduces a destructive new "shallow loss" insurance program and falls far short of even the modest budget-cutting goals set out by the White House.

While the Senate bill does eliminate some wasteful subsidies, including $5 billion a year in direct payment subsidies that are sent to agricultural producers regardless of need, it projects to save only $26.4 billion over the next decade. That's less than both the $30 billion target set out by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and the $33 billion in cuts anticipated by President Barack Obama's budget proposal.

The bill actually increases by $3.2 billion over the next decade federal spending on the already $9 billion-a-year federal crop insurance program, which sees taxpayers pick up the tab for more than 60 percent of farmers' premiums. A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office suggested that simply limiting the subsidy to $40,000 per producer would save $1 billion a year.

Rather than scale back the crop program, the Senate bill diverts most of the savings from eliminating direct payments into a new "shallow loss" insurance program that would compensate farmers if their income drops by as little as 5 percent. According to the Congressional Budget Office, repealing direct payments would save $44.6 billion over the next decade, but the new "agricultural risk coverage" adds $28.9 billion to the budget. The losses the program would compensate for need not be from floods, droughts, frosts, or other weather-related catastrophes, but would instead largely be driven by market fluctuations in the prices of commodities.

The following statement from The Heartland Institute - a free-market think tank - may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Tammy Nash at tnash@heartland.org and 312/377-4000. After regular business hours, contact Jim Lakely at jlakely@heartland.org and 312/731-9364.

"As currently structured, the federal crop insurance program is a boondoggle that costs taxpayers billions, offers lush corporate welfare both to big agribusiness and to insurers and insurance agents, and harms the environment by encouraging converting previously wild lands for agricultural development.

"Rather than introduce a costly new shallow loss subsidy, Congress should be encouraging risk-based pricing by the Risk Management Agency and phasing out crop insurance subsidies for all but the smallest and neediest of farmers."

R.J. Lehmann
Deputy Director, Center on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate
The Heartland Institute
rlehmann@heartland.org
202/525-5726

ST. LOUIS (April 23, 2012) - The United Soybean Board (USB) and soy checkoff have begun leading an effort to demonstrate the high sustainability performance of U.S. soy to customers who increasingly demand products grown using sustainable practices. USB continues to collaborate with the American Soybean Association, U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and several state soybean checkoff boards to compile specific examples that show how U.S. soy production is sustainable.

The organizations intend to use the information to ensure U.S. soybean farmers' freedom to operate and open market access for U.S. soy across the globe. It will encompass all U.S. soy and all U.S. soybean farmers.

"We're taking an overall view of what's already being done by U.S. soybean farmers to become more sustainable and informing our customers around the world about it," says USB International Marketing program chair Sharon Covert, a soybean farmer from Tiskilwa, Ill. "U.S. soybean farmers have always been sustainable; it's at the heart of what we do. We have a tremendous amount of research to show how sustainable we've become."

As more customers demand sustainably sourced products and ingredients, checkoff-funded research provides facts that show U.S. soy meets those demands. USB's life-cycle analysis of soy production and processing and measurements against key sustainability metrics show U.S. soybean farmers continuously improving their sustainability performance.

"This is a time-sensitive issue, giving us an opportunity to avoid trade interruptions with any of our U.S. soy customers who demand sustainable soy," says USSEC Chairman Roy Bardole, a soybean farmer from Rippey, Iowa. "In fact, this provides an opportunity to open markets in the European Union, where sales of U.S. soy could be seriously inhibited in the future because of sustainability issues. It will be a huge boost to our efforts there."

The 69 farmer-directors of USB oversee the investments of the soy checkoff to maximize profit opportunities for all U.S. soybean farmers. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds to increase the value of U.S. soy meal and oil, to ensure U.S. soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate, and to meet the needs of U.S. soy's customers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soy checkoff.

For more information on the United Soybean Board, visit www.unitedsoybean.org
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, April 19, 2012 - Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted the importance of agriculture and rural America to the economic recovery and the strength of the nation. Vilsack touted America's farmers, ranchers and growers as some of our nation's greatest assets, responsible for one out of every 12 jobs: providers of our food, feed, fiber, and fuel while helping to drive our national economy. He highlighted ways the USDA and the Obama Administration have worked to improve the lives of rural Americans and grow the agricultural economy over the past three years by developing new markets at home and abroad, maintaining a strong safety net, investing in conservation and research, and encouraging the next generation of farmers.

"Thanks to the productivity of America's hardworking farmers, ranchers and producers, U.S. agriculture continues to be a bright spot in America's economy and a driving force behind export growth, job creation, and our nation's competitiveness," said Vilsack. "U.S. agriculture accounts for 1 in 12 jobs, provides American consumers with safe and affordable foods, contributes to record incomes for farm families, and is helping reduce our reliance on foreign oil. Through our efforts at USDA and the work of the White House Rural Council, the Obama Administration is supporting farmers, ranchers, and rural communities as they help strengthen our nation's economy."

Vilsack noted USDA's work to strengthen the rural economy over the past three years, including:

• USDA is maintaining a strong safety net to help keep American agriculture profitable and keep farmers on the farm. Over the past three years, USDA's crop insurance program has paid out almost $16.2 billion to more than 325,000 farmers who lost crops to natural disasters. Other programs have provided nearly $3.5 billion in aid to help more than 250,000 farmers and ranchers recover from natural disasters.
• USDA has provided 103,000 loans to family farmers and has worked with over a half a million farmers to pursue conservation agreements and easements - enrolling a record number of acres in conservation programs and contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to the rural economy that supports many jobs.
• USDA has made historic investments in America's rural communities, financing 50,000 rural small and mid-sized businesses - helping to create or save 266,000 jobs.
• USDA has invested in broadband service for nearly seven million rural residents and helped to build or renovate over 6,200 community facilities including hospitals, schools, fire and police stations and libraries.
• USDA has helped 456,000 rural families in more than 21,000 communities buy or refinance a home.

Vilsack also touted the work of the first-ever White House Rural Council, that was established by President Obama in June 2011. Chaired by Secretary Vilsack, the Council gives the Administration the ability to cut across large federal agencies to deliver results for rural families and businesses and provides a unique opportunity to hear directly from people across the country on how to grow the economy and create jobs in rural America.

Since its launch, the White House Rural Council has supported a broad spectrum of rural initiatives including a $350 million commitment in SBA funding to rural small businesses over the next 5 years, launching a series of conferences to connect investors with rural start-ups, creating capital marketing teams to pitch federal funding opportunities to private investors interested in making rural investments, making job search information available at 2,800 local USDA offices nationwide, making HHS loans available to help more than 1,300 Critical Access Hospitals recruit additional staff, and helping rural hospitals purchase software and hardware to implement health IT. USDA and Navy have also announced a partnership to advance the use of next generation biofuels in Navy operations.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).