Category: Vegetables

America’s farmers and producers are the backbone of our nation’s agricultural economy and food security. Despite their critical role in our lives – to feed, clothe, and fuel not only the United States but the entire world – our farmers are struggling to survive.

The current state of the agricultural economy is bleak. Input costs are rising, commodity prices are falling, and our farmers cannot break even, much less make a profit. 

According to the Department of Agriculture, net farm income this year is projected to decline 4.4% from 2023. This follows a shocking 19.5% decline from 2022, which means farm income has seen a drastic 23% decline from just two years ago. These figures represent over $40 billion in lost revenue for America’s hardworking producers, the largest two-year decline ever. 

Row croppers are facing the worst financial blow of all farmers, with a $27.7 billion decline in cash receipts since last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. 

In Alabama, producers are yielding bumper crops of cotton, peanuts, corn, and soybeans, yet they can’t make a profit due to rising costs of production. 

A multitude of factors over which producers have no control are impacting their bottom lines.  These include a lack of domestic energy production, skyrocketing inflation, rising costs of labor and the H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), and the increased price of feed, fertilizer, and pesticides. Issues plaguing American producers have only been made worse by the harmful policies of the Biden-Harris administration. 

America’s agricultural producers are facing a tough road ahead. Many fear that their farm loans may not be renewed, cash flows will dry up, and interest rates on the money they need to borrow to operate farms will continue to rise. 

Although Congress only has a few legislative days left to act, we must stop adding fuel to the fire and pass a farm bill that helps our farmers. Producers need a strong safety net to help them weather fluctuating commodity markets, rising input costs, and a growing deficit in agricultural trade.

Farmers across the country have varying levels of risk, impacted by land and equipment costs, access to irrigation, and variable input requirements. Considering no farmer’s risks are the same, we cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach in the farm bill to address the farm safety net. 

Row croppers across the South heavily rely upon Title 1 commodity programs in the farm bill, particularly the Price Loss Program and the Agriculture Risk Program, while Midwest producers heavily utilize crop insurance. While there may be overlap across regions amongst these programs, we must fix the entire safety net, not just parts of it.   

Farmers are operating off 2012 effective reference prices for both PLC and ARC, price support programs, which were enacted in the 2014 farm bill. However, costs of production are 22% to 31% higher today than they were a decade ago – making current reference prices completely irrelevant. 

We don’t have any time to waste. Our farmers are facing an uphill battle to remain in business. Even if a farm bill is passed this year, producers won’t receive any commodity program support until the fall of 2026.  

Senate Republicans stand ready to act on the solid bipartisan bill the House Agriculture Committee passed earlier this year. Yet, Senate Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration refuse to come to the table to find practical, bipartisan solutions to the many problems our farmers are facing. In fact, the administration would rather focus on expanding welfare and climate change initiatives. 

Without immediate action to assist row crop producers, our nation’s agricultural industry may be irreparably harmed. According to USDA data, America has lost approximately 150,000 farms and 25,000 farmers in our country over the last five years. We can’t afford any more losses without forcing industry consolidation and reliance on foreign nations to import our food.

I will continue to be the voice of Southern agricultural producers in the Senate and will ensure they have a seat at the table for all upcoming Farm Bill discussions. 

Tommy Tuberville is the senior senator from Alabama and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. and the ranking member of the the Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy.

Midland Valley High School is starting the school year with a larger greenhouse, and Agricultural Education teacher Jean Smith says it is time for a change. “It’s twice the size of the greenhouse we had, and the other one pretty much was just falling apart,” she said.

The original 1,344-square-foot greenhouse was replaced with one nearly double its size, a 2,592-square-foot facility with an irrigation system.

Smith said that last year the school wasn’t able to plant ferns because they had no room to grow – a stark contrast between the 200 that have been planted this semester in the new facility.

There are plans to use the greenhouse for plants like geraniums, Gerbera daisies, tomatoes, and peppers. In the space where the previous greenhouse sat, Smith said Midland Valley hopes to start a community garden with cabbage, broccoli, collards, and blueberries. “That’s kind of our intention for this whole area,” she said.

Read more at Post and Courier.

Farmers who grow the crops being hammered the hardest by commodity market declines are hitting Capitol Hill this week, accompanied by ag bankers and Farm Credit lenders, to make a last-ditch push for a new farm bill.

In an unusual lobbying move, teams of farmers representing the row crops that depend on the major commodity title programs plan to visit House and Senate offices, with the groups accompanied by an ag lender to help the case that many farmers will face a dire financial situation heading into next year because of the price declines. 

“Congress must act before the end of the year to get that [the farm bill” across the finish line,” said Jake Westlin, vice president of policy and communications for the National Association of Wheat Growers. “It’s not going to be any easier next year.”

A veteran lobbyist told Agri-Pulse the use of cross-commodity teams of farmers to lobby Congress was done at least once before, in lobbying for what became the 2002 farm bill. Commodity groups generally don’t coordinate with each other in visiting lawmakers and their staffs. 

NAWG will have members among the cross-commodity teams of farmers along with the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Cotton Council, National Sorghum Producers and USA Rice.

Separately, more than 300 groups have signed a letter that is going to congressional leaders Monday to make the case for a new farm bill.

USDA last week raised its forecast for net farm income this year but still estimated that sales from crops would be down by 10%. Sales from corn and soybeans are expected to fall about 21.9% and 16.7% respectively, while receipts from wheat and cotton are projected down 14.5% and 25.5% respectively

Members of the National Farmers Union and the National Pork Producers Council also will be in the nation’s capital this week. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will speak to NFU members on Monday. 

Time is fast running out on passing a new farm bill. The Senate Agriculture Committee has taken no action on a bill, and the House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill still has a $33 billion funding gap that needs to be addressed before it can be put on the House floor. After September, Congress won’t be in session again until after the Nov. 5 election.

Senate GOP Whip John Thune, R-S.D., said in August that Congress was likely to pass another one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill. 

That may be the inevitable outcome, but the farm groups lobbying the Hill this week don’t want such an extension attached to the stop-gap funding bill that Congress needs to pass this month to keep the government open after the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1. 

A farm bill extension isn’t included in a GOP-backed continuing resolution that the House is expected to vote on this week. The CR has virtually no chance of passing the Senate, because it would extend through March and also includes the SAVE Act, a bill that would require prospective voters to provide documentary proof of their citizenship. 

Separately, the House is also set to focus on concerns this week about foreign ownership of U.S. farmland. The House is scheduled to consider a bill that would prohibit individuals and companies “owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction of” the governments of Iran, North Korea, China or Russia from purchasing or leasing agricultural land. 

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The Protecting America’s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act, first introduced by Washington Republican Dan Newhouse, would not require any current landowners to divest of land, but those “associated with these governments” would be barred from participating in Agriculture Department programs.

Chinese investors reported owning 349,915 U.S. agricultural acres in 2022, but the Chinese government did not have any direct filings, according to the USDA. Iranian investors held 1,749 acres that year, while Russian investors held 73. No North Korean investors reported holding land.

The House also has scheduled a series of hearings this week on issues important to agriculture.

FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, Jim Jones, will testify before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, a House Agriculture subcommittee will hold a joint hearing with the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on food distribution problems with USDA’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which serves about 720,000 seniors.

Also Wednesday, the House Natural Resources subcommittee will have a hearing on bills related to the Endangered Species Act, and a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee will have a hearing on implementation of the Biden administration’s latest waters of the U.S. rule, which defines the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.

Also this week, ABC News will host a debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

Ahead of the presidential debate, the Farm Foundation on Monday will sponsor a debate on ag issues between Kip Tom, who’s leading the Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition, and Rod Snyder, who recently stepped down as director of EPA’s first Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Tom, an Indiana farmer, served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture programs during the Trump administration.

Here is a list of agriculture- or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EDT):

Monday, Sept. 9

Agriculture Future of America hosts their Policy Institute through Sept.
10. Agri-Pulse Founder Sara Wyant participates in a policy discussion
on Sept. 10, Westin Crystal City.

1 p.m. – Farm Foundation forum on the GOP and Democratic platforms, National Press Club.

4 p.m. – House Rules Committee meeting to consider bills including H.R. 9456, Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 and a fiscal 2025 continuing resolution, H-313 Capitol.

4 p.m. – USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report.

Tuesday, Sept. 10

10 a.m. – House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on FDA’s Human Foods program, 2123 Rayburn.

9 p.m. – ABC News hosts debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, Philadelphia.

Wednesday, Sept. 11

8:30 a.m. – Bureau of Labor Statistics releases Consumer Price Index.

10 a.m. – Joint hearing by a House Agriculture subcommittee and the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on food distributions shortages among tribal and elderly communities, 1300 Longworth.

10 a.m.– House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing on bills related to the Endangered Species Act, 1324 Longworth.

10 a.m. – House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing, “Waters of the United States Implementation Post-Sackett Decision: Experiences and Perspective,” 2167 Rayburn.

Thursday, Sept. 12

8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.

10 a.m. – Senate Finance Committee hearing, “The 2025 Tax Policy Debate and Tax Avoidance Strategies,” 215 Dirksen.

Noon – USDA releases monthly Crop Production report and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates

Friday, Sept. 13

Noah Wicks contributed to this report. 

For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.

The presidential campaign of Democrat Kamala Harris has named Matt Hildreth, the founder and executive director of RuralOrganizing.org, as its national rural outreach director.

Shawn Sebastian, director of organizing at RuralOrganizing, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, said on X that Hildreth will take a leave of absence from the group.

“For over a decade, Matt has been working to build an empowered, thriving, and equitable rural America,” Sebastian said, citing as an example the RECOMPETE grants program in the CHIPS and Science Act passed in 2022, which he said “is now giving local leaders the opportunity to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in projects that work for their communities.”

“RuralOrganizing.org has been committed to increasing good-paying jobs and wages, decreasing daily expenses, and improving the quality of life for rural communities experiencing economic distress, and we know Matt will continue that work with the Harris-Walz campaign,” Sebastian said.

“The Harris-Walz campaign’s rural operation is in very good hands,” he added.

On its website, the group touted its involvement in last year’s successful campaign to pass an Ohio referendum guaranteeing abortion rights in the state.

“RuralOrganizing was crucial in the passage of this constitutional amendment that enshrines into Ohio law the right for every individual to make their own choices when it comes to reproductive choice,” the group said on its website. “A cornerstone of our approach was the strategic door-to-door campaign and conversations from placing yard signs. Our canvassers and Vocal Locals engaged in meaningful conversations with voters, bringing the conversation about abortion access to people’s doorsteps.”
 

The campaign hopes to cut into Donald Trump’s support in rural areas in its bid to win battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and North Carolina.

Kylie Oversen, Rural Council chair for the Democratic National Committee, said she hasn’t had extensive contact with Hildreth but added, “I know [he’s] been doing really good work across the country in organizing in rural communities, particularly with state and local races, and I think that experience will be really valuable.”

She said she wished only that the hire “would have happened sooner, not just obviously the Harris campaign, but the Biden campaign,” which did not have a rural outreach director.

She said her understanding is that Hildreth “will be a one-person operation for rural,” but will work within the political team, which includes communications and fundraising. “He just will be focused directly on whatever rural outreach they have,” she said.

For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.