By Gene Hall

It’s a curious coalition that always creeps out of the deep woods to oppose the farm bill, which, in one form or another has ensured U.S. supplies of food and fiber since the 1930s.

It’s sort of like an episode of The Walking Dead.  One group of zombies swoops in from the deep woods of the left, believing that attacking modern agriculture in their typical Luddite fashion will produce the environmental utopia of which they dream. 

The following post is a reprint of The Ag Agenda written by Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The New Year is upon us, which means many of you have probably made a New Year’s resolution or two. The funny thing about resolutions is that they are easier to make than to keep (I speak from experience). Come January 7, that piece of cheesecake typically wins out, while the elliptical machine is already starting to gather dust.

By Gene Hall

Okay, I admit it.  Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack got my attention when he said rural America is becoming irrelevant.

“It’s time for us to have an adult conversation with folks in rural America,” Vilsack said in a speech at a Farm Journal forum. “It’s time for a different thought process here, in my view.”

Vilsack was once the governor of Iowa, a Democrat, and he expressed his disappointment over squabbling in the farm sector. He said rural America should pick its political fights more carefully. Citing the lack of a farm bill as evidence, Vilsack hinted that rural America, which voted overwhelmingly Republican, is losing its influence.

By Gene Hall

A lot of the public and more than a few politicians don’t pay too much attention to the farm bill, crop insurance or agricultural policy.

Once in a while, though, you get a “teachable moment.” That moment is the drought that currently grips the Midwest, threatening grain crops like the epic drought of last year devastated livestock and other crops in Texas and the Southwest.

The extremes of both political parties dislike what is often called the farm bill. There are very few legislative packages in the history of the republic that have worked as well, but it still pulls in some hate.

By Kenneth Dierschke

Everyone in agriculture knew there would be substantial cuts in the new Farm Bill. Most agricultural organizations had signaled that a “proportional cut” would be acceptable. We’ve realized that preserving the most essential element of the legislation—crop insurance—would be a realistic goal.

 Toward that end, the House Agriculture Committee had been working with what farmers believe is a realistic number–$23 billion in cuts to the commodity title of the farm program. Recently, the House Budget Committee threw out a new and completely unrealistic number of $30 billion in cuts. This is not a proportional number and it’s hard to imagine how we can come up with a workable crop insurance program within that budget framework.