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Floor Speech

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Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I rise to join my colleague from West Virginia, talking about some of the important issues that we worked on over the past month. I am really pleased that she talked about the importance of getting a farm bill. It is just incredibly important.

In my State of North Dakota, we are No. 1 as an ag powerhouse and then also an energy powerhouse. In the energy realm, we produced more than 1.2 million barrels of oil a day. That is as much as some of the OPEC countries for the whole country. And then we supply electricity to coal-fired and other sources of electricity that are probably in each region. So we are really an energy powerhouse, and that is a big part of our economy.

But ag is still No. 1 for us. We produce probably more than 40 different crops, as diverse as--we are the No. 1 State for producing honey, and we produce a lot of sugar. But then we have got all the row crops--corn and soybeans and all those kinds of things. We have got wheat. We have got the pulse crops. We actually have more cattle than people--millions of head of cattle. So we are very diversified in the ag world.

Needless to say, a farm bill is incredibly important to us, and it is incredibly important to our country. When I talk about farmers and ranchers and the farm bill, I like to start by saying that every single American benefits every single day from our farmers and ranchers, who produce the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. So when we talk about good farm policy, we are talking about something that benefits every single American every single day.

Americans spend less of their budget on food. They have the best food. They have the best choice, the best quality. And we spend less of our budget on food than virtually any other developed country. All that is brought to us every single day by our farmers and ranchers.

I want to take a few minutes today to talk about how important it is that we get a farm bill done. It is not just important for our farmers and ranchers but, as I say, for every single American.

During the recent work period, I was out, and I, of course, visited with farmers and ranchers across our State and continued to get their input. But, also, they really are seeing challenges out there in farm country.

They don't control the weather, obviously. They don't control trade, and they don't control the price. But they have to deal with all three every year. So what we are seeing right now is a decline in commodity prices, which is putting real pressure on farmers and ranchers across this country.

As part of my efforts, I also convened a field hearing of the Senate Ag Appropriations Subcommittee near, actually, Fargo, ND, to discuss the future of ag research and also ag development.

We are one of the leaders in precision agriculture. The technology in farming and ranching now is unbelievable. At North Dakota State University, combined with our world-class farmers and ranchers, we are really leading that effort forward with a new concept called Grand Farm, where we are displaying, on a national basis, the incredible advancements in technology that are an important part of precision agriculture there.

I was pleased to be joined by colleagues on a bipartisan basis. Senator Boozman was there, as well as Senator Klobuchar and Senator Smith--so bipartisan, all members of the Ag Committee with me. We had a very robust and substantive discussion about precision agriculture.

But while we focused on the future of agriculture research and all those kinds of things, we also heard from witnesses on the need to pass a farm bill and what needs to be in that farm bill in order to make sure that it works. That means a strong commodity title. That called for updating crop insurance and making sure we update the reference prices, meaning we update the countercyclical safety net. Those two tools--our crop insurance and the countercyclical safety net--that is how our farmers manage risk in a world where they don't control prices, they don't control weather, and they don't control trade.

We produce fuel and fiber not just for this country but for the world, and the farmers don't have any control over those things, which is why it is so important that we have the right kind of farm policy. That is reinforced this week by more than 300 commodity groups--farmers and ranchers--coming from across the country, who are here this week in support of getting this farm bill done.

We are already operating under a 1-year extension. So we are already 1 year past due getting a new 5-year farm bill in place.

As I say, farmers and ranchers from across the country are here talking to policymakers about the need to get this done rather than facing yet another yearlong extension.

Again, the message is very, very clear: We need to update the countercyclical safety net and crop insurance. That is the heart and soul. That is how our farmers manage risk. That is the key to getting a farm bill done.

As I mentioned, economic conditions in farm country continue to worsen. Last week, the farm income forecast from the USDA came out and indicated that lower commodity prices, high input costs, and elevated interest rates continue to create a real challenge for our producers.

For 2024, USDA is projecting net farm income, which is a broad measure of farm income, at $140 billion, which is a decrease of $6.5 billion from 2023.

Adjusted for inflation, the 2024 net cash farm income projections for crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat--important not only to my State but throughout the Midwest and beyond--represent the worst numbers that we have seen since the USDA began collecting this data for the past 15 years.

We have the opportunity to address that through the farm bill, and we need to do it. We need to get it done.

Senator Boozman, who, as I mentioned, joined me in North Dakota several weeks ago, has put forward a framework for that farm bill. I think it does exactly what it needs to do: It provides that support that farmers and ranchers need.

Also in the House, the House Ag Committee chairman, GT Thompson, also has moved through their full Ag Committee a bill that I think works as well. So the framework in the Senate is there. The bill that has come out of committee in the House is there. The bill in the House needs some tweaks, but it is going in the right direction.

The reality is that we are in position to get it done, but we need to come together on a bipartisan basis and address updates to the reference prices in the countercyclical safety net, as well as the updates for the crop insurance we need, which I have put in a marker bill that lays out very clearly what needs to happen. We need to come to agreement on it. We need to get this farm bill done.

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