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Floor Speech
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Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, just a few minutes ago, the ranking member of our Ag Committee, the senior Senator from Arkansas, Senator Boozman, put forth a statement of principles that he has developed with his outstanding staff that really identify and describe a framework that we absolutely need in the farm bill.
As you know, we have a 1-year extension in place on the farm bill. You know, it is something that is just incredibly important, and it has to get done on a bipartisan basis, and so we need to get it done. If we can't get it done before the end of this year, we are going to have to put another 1-year extension on the farm program in place.
You know, when we talk about our farmers and ranchers and we talk about the farm bill and we talk about farm policy, you know, we think we are kind of just focused on agriculture, and that is really not the case. I mean, good farm policy in this country gives us the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. Well, who does that impact on a daily basis? Everybody. Every single person in this country every single day, multiple times a day. Highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. More choice. Higher quality. Better food than anywhere else in the world. And--and--Americans spend less of their budget on their food than any other developed country. I would say that is something we should not take for granted.
It is amazing--you know, I mean, I think nowadays so many people don't come from the farm anymore. You know, obviously we are a huge ag State, and we still have a lot of nexus with farming, but a lot of places don't. They think, wow, food comes from the grocery stores. Well, it doesn't. It is produced by our farmers and ranchers every single day.
So, you know, that is one of those things that are just incredibly important. Until we don't have it, until we don't have this network of family farms and ranches across this country that gives us something that is better than anywhere else in the world, you know, we take it for granted. We can't do that.
So we need to get a farm bill done, and we need to get it right. That is why I am here, is because if we follow the framework that Senator Boozman just laid out, we will get it right, and so we need to do it. That is the simple point I want to make, that that is the framework we need to embrace on a bipartisan basis, on a bicameral basis, get it passed, get it to the President, and get it in place, and I would say for our farmers and ranchers but really what I am saying: for every single American every single day.
I want to start out by thanking Senator Boozman; but most of all, I want to thank our hard-working farmers and ranchers who face incredible challenges whether it is weather, whether it is trade policy. You know, I mean, it is all the things that they don't control; but year in and year out, they go out and they plant a crop and they raise livestock and they feed the world. And those challenges are what they face, like I say, every single year.
Now, this year, they are looking at lower farm net income. They are looking at record-high input costs. Obviously, inflation and high interest rates have put a real squeeze on their operations. You know, it is often said that farm bills are written for bad times, not good times; and that is what we have got to keep in mind. The whole concept of this farm bill is that it is countercyclical. It makes sure that it provides help to farmers and ranchers when they need it, and, you know, obviously, when they don't need it, then it is not there. Of course, that is the way it should be. That is not only what affects farmers and ranchers, that is what is most beneficial in terms of the hard-working taxpayers of this country.
Of course, Senator Boozman's framework does just exactly that. It makes the investments we need in the farm safety net, and that is, ultimately, the bedrock and the foundation of what the farm bill is all about. He emphasizes that in a lot of different ways, whether it is strengthening crop insurance, which we, obviously, have to have as it is very important; improving the access to credit for our farmers and ranchers; and also making sure that our livestock producers--our ranchers as well as our farmers--are able to operate year in and year out and that, for the next generation, we are doing every single thing we can to bring that next generation into farming and ranching.
Remember, there are about 16 million people across the country who are either directly or indirectly involved in agriculture. The average age now for these family farms and ranches--the average age of the principal--is about 60 years old. We also have to make sure that we are bringing this next generation into farming and that we are keeping that family farm, that family ranch, that network of millions of small businesses across this country that feed and fuel the world--we need to make sure that we do everything we can to sustain it, and Senator Boozman's framework does that.
Let's come together in a bipartisan way--in a bipartisan way on our Ag Committee and in a bicameral way--and get this thing done for our farmers, for our ranchers, and for all Americans.
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