An Ohio farm group is among more than 300 organizations pushing Congress to reject the current House version of the Farm Bill, the legislation meant to expand investments in rural communities and lower energy costs nationwide.

According to the House committee working on the bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act will expand producers’ access to credit, promote precision agriculture and enhance conservation programs.

Nicole Wolcott, federal policy coordinator for the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, said when the House approved the bill last week, indecisive lawmakers changed their minds four times in less than 24 hours.

"One of the big holdups to that was tacking on an E15, a renewable fuel standard, to the farm bill," Wolcott explained. "E15 isn’t something her organization focuses on because our farmers are generally in the business of food growing."

Wolcott noted the Farm Bill received several amendments in the House Rules Committee last week before it was passed. Wolcott believes the Senate will add new measures to the bill.

Wolcott pointed out the changes made to the bill have not helped to address the concerns of Ohio farmers. She added the majority of crop insurance and commodity support programs serve row crop farmers but not the kind of farmers who sell their products at local markets. Farmers who grow a variety of crops also need a robust safety net to have a viable business.

"We need a bipartisan farm bill, not one that narrowly passes, one that has robust support for all farmers of this country," Wolcott contended. "We see that diversified and small-scale farmers don't have a lot to be excited about in this bill."

Wolcott stressed there is a long way to go to see what the official farm bill will offer and her organization will focus its efforts on the Senate as the legislation moves forward. She believes there are no measurable improvements in any of the programs outlined in the farm bill so far and some provisions in the House bill are not wanted by the Senate.

She underscored some programs are a “drop in the bucket” financially and can make a considerable impact but they would not get increased funding under the current bill.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

Source: Public News Service