You may be an agriculturalist if...

You may be an agriculturalist if you got excited about the announcement that congress finally passed the new 5 year Farm Bill last week! The Farm Bill is a food reform that provides assistance to America's farmers and ranchers. "But how does this affect me?" You may ask. This bill is security for American producers to safely and securely continue producing our food while taking our environment into consideration. In addition to addressing our food producers, the bill is largely directed toward the issue of food stamps, which affects some 47 million Americans today! It passed in congress with a 62-38 vote.

Just a little history on the topic: The bill began in 1933 and is supposed to be revised every five years. It is set to expire after 7 years, if not updated, so America's agriculturalists were getting especially worried, as it provides production security and compensates for extremely low commodity prices. The Farm Bill of 2008 was in order to be address in 2012 but continued to be put on the back burner due to our nation's debt crisis but if allowed to expire, it could have potentially devastated and destroyed thousands of small town farmers and ranchers.

One major change to the reform is that rather than direct payments made to producers, there will be an investment in insurance companies. This change increases the number of jobs and the stability of agriculture insurance agencies while continuing to provide peace of mind to today's agriculturalists.
In regards to food stamps or the Nutrition Assistance Program, costs will be cut by some $8 million dollars by tightening guidelines so that "illegal immigrants, lottery winners, traditional college students, and the deceased do not receive benefits." It additionally prohibits entities from advertising or promoting the use of food stamps. 

Rodeo of the Ozarks agrees that is important to know what is going on in the world around us. We plan to post about current events regarding the agriculture industry, western heritage and local events and issues. Let us know what you want to hear about!




Sources:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/laws-and-regulations/farm-bill
http://nationalaglawcenter.org/farmbills/