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Secretary Vilsack Outlines Farm Bill Priorities
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FEATURE – Secretary Vilsack Outlines Farm Bill Priorities
INTRO: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has started outlining what he hopes Congress will do in the 2012 Farm Bill. The U-S-D-A’s Bob Ellison has more. (1:35)
ON A RECENT VISIT TO IOWA, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY TOM VILSACK TALKED ABOUT HIS PRIORITIES FOR THE PARTS OF THE TWENTY TWELVE FARM BILL THAT DEAL WITH AGRICULTURE.
Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary: We need to maintain a strong safety net, we need to support sustainable productivity, and we need to promote vibrant markets. Producers need assistance quickly after they lose their crops to a natural disaster. I want to encourage Congress to continue their commitment to improve conservation programs. As Congress works on this bill, they should recognize we need vibrant, fair, and diverse markets at home and abroad for our farmers, ranchers, and producers of all types and all sizes.
BUT VILSACK ACKNOWLEDGED THAT TIGHT FEDERAL BUDGET TIMES WILL MEAN LESS FARM BILL FUNDING COMPARED TO PAST YEARS.
Vilsack: We simply need to do more with less. We have to simplify existing programs; we need to reduce redundant provisions; and we need to put a premium on creating innovative solutions to address our current and future problems.
AND SPEAKING AT THE NEWSEUM IN WASHINGTON D-C AFTER RETURNING FROM IOWA, VILSACK SAID THERE WILL LIKELY BE CHANGES TO U-S-D-A PROGRAMS.
Vilsack: It’s been proposed that we reduce our mandatory programs by twenty three billion dollars. You don’t get to twenty three billion unless you substantially change the safety net. I think you are likely going to see an elimination of direct payments and a restructuring of that safety net to focus on revenue and crop insurance and risk management.
FOR THE U-S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE I’M BOB ELLISON.
