The President’s request would cut USDA’s budget by $4.7 billion, or 21 percent. It demonstrates a lack of understanding of farm programs and their impact on rural America.
House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson today made the following statement on President Trump’s 2018 Budget Request.
“The President’s request would cut USDA’s budget by $4.7 billion, or 21 percent. It demonstrates a lack of understanding of farm programs and their impact on rural America.
“Cuts to the water and wastewater loan grant program are wrongly portrayed as duplicative when they are the only ways for small rural communities to update their water systems. County offices are already understaffed; further cuts would mean private organizations would be tasked with helping farmers navigate farm programs. Again, it’s a general lack of understanding of what really takes place in rural America.
“The good news is this budget will be ignored, as it should be. I urge the Administration to spend more time in rural America to gain an understanding of how things work and I hope that once an Agriculture Secretary is in place that he will be able to explain the value of these programs and services.”
