{"id":59622,"date":"2018-04-30T16:56:58","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T16:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vps70863.inmotionhosting.com\/~nationalgrange\/\/?p=59622"},"modified":"2020-12-20T21:10:14","modified_gmt":"2020-12-20T21:10:14","slug":"policy-updates-and-issue-news-april-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vps70863.inmotionhosting.com\/~nationalgrange\/policy-updates-and-issue-news-april-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Updates and Issue News April 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

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National Grange Fly-In
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This year\u2019s fly-in to Washington April 15-18 was the largest in recent years.\u00a0 A total of 34 Grangers of all ages from 14 states had 30 appointments on Capitol Hill with their senators, representatives and congressional staff.\u00a0 They discussed matters related to broadband and telecommunications, health care, farm bill, farm policy, dairy policy, rural concerns, the opioid crisis and a slew of back-home issues.\u00a0 Attendees were treated to extensive in-depth briefings at the National Grange building and USDA before venturing to the Hill.\u00a0 A highlight was a briefing from the White House by Ray Starling, Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture, Trade and Food Assistance.\u00a0 Junior Grange members at the fly-in had the unique experience of being interviewed by RFD-TV.\u00a0 The major objective of the fly-in is to carry local, state and national Grange policy positions into meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Agriculture
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Sign Up for New Dairy Assistance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grangers are encouraged to sign up by June 1 at their Farm Service Agency office for the new dairy Margin Protection Program. This issue was lobbied hard by the Grange and included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (omnibus package).\u00a0 The new MPP offers increased protection to dairymen when the difference between the all milk price and the average feed cost (i.e. the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.\u00a0 USDA has a web tool to help dairymen use data unique to their individual operations to test a variety of financial scenarios before enrolling in the new MPP.<\/p>\n

Farm Bill Ready for House Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

Farm bills are traditionally a bipartisan exercise on Capitol Hill.\u00a0 Not so this time, at least not on the House side.\u00a0 House Agriculture Committee Chairman Conaway and Ranking Member Peterson worked together for months on a draft farm bill.\u00a0 Then politics eclipsed policy.\u00a0 A version of the bill was leaked to some Democratic members who became outraged at a proposal to require stricter work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) recipients.\u00a0 Republicans pushed the farm bill through Committee on a party line vote over the objections of Committee Democrats who vowed to block the farm bill over the proposed work requirements .\u00a0 This will set up an acrimonious and bitter partisan debate when the farm bill reaches the House floor in May. \u00a0Meanwhile, Senate Agriculture members still believe they will be able to craft and pass a bipartisan farm bill by fall.<\/p>\n

Here is a summary by title of the House farm bill (H.R.2) as passed by the Ag Committee as it heads to the full House:<\/p>\n