2014 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com MARCH 27, 2014 35
row-crop farmer in Congress, has been traveling the
Southern states to discuss the new legislation with
producers.
In one such meeting he told the group: “You are going
to have to sit down and figure out what has been
working best on your acres and your farm to make
this thing work. It’s going to be all on you.” He added,
“These programs are not great. They are just not.”
On the other side of the coin, Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack called the farm bill an “investment in
rural America.” He agrees that the crop insurance
programs are complex and will need careful
consideration by farmers, but he said they add a “farm
safety net” that has been missing for producers.
He also noted that the farm bill adds a nutrition safety
net that will ensure nutrition programs for children of
hardworking families who are going through tough
times.
In his USDA blog, Vilsack wrote: “I am struck by
the myriad ways the new farm bill also makes small,
yet critical, investments that help foster the potential
in our rural communities, long underappreciated and
under-realized. It provides resources that give us the
opportunity to restructure and revitalize the rural
economy in ways that, without a farm bill, were out of
reach.”
He goes on to explain that the farm bill will open
doors for organic, locally and regionally grown foods,
will expand the potential for job creation in small rural
businesses, will support private sector research and
will expand the potential for rural manufacturing of
products made from renewable materials.
Vilsack wrapped up his comments by saying: “We
are fortunate as a nation because we have the ability
to grow and create virtually everything we need to
survive. Our farmers, ranchers and foresters, and those
in supporting industries, give us the freedom to be
whoever and accomplish whatever we want because
Continued to page 36
