This budget should be a warning to people in rural America. For years, groups like the Freedom Caucus, Heritage Foundation and Club for Growth have been advocating for these exact policies as part of their goal to completely do away with farm programs. They are now closer to making this a reality than ever before.
House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson today made the following statement on the Trump Administration’s FY 2018 Budget Request which would cut $231 billion from mandatory farm bill spending over ten years.
“This budget should be a warning to people in rural America. For years, groups like the Freedom Caucus, Heritage Foundation and Club for Growth have been advocating for these exact policies as part of their goal to completely do away with farm programs. They are now closer to making this a reality than ever before.
“By all accounts this budget is going nowhere on Capitol Hill but it is still a statement of priorities and should be of concern to all rural Americans. Going down this path all but guarantees there will be no new farm bill.
“I will continue to advocate for strong policies that ensure a strong farm safety net, including crop insurance, as well as programs that allow rural communities to provide critical infrastructure services like water and broadband access. I’m hopeful we can get past this ideology and make reasonable reforms as part of future farm bill debate but this is not a good place to start.”
The $231 billion cut to mandatory farm bill spending includes a $193 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The budget proposes an additional $8.494 billion in mandatory USDA cuts and also calls for a 20 percent cut in USDA discretionary spending.
