As the economic outlook for Minnesota corn farmers worsened, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) called on Congress to include economic relief, as well as disaster assistance in an end-of-the-year spending bill. We kept up the pressure to get a new, five-year fam bill completed but when it became clear that was unlikely to happen before the end of the year, economic and disaster assistance became the priority. MCGA is thankful that the year-end spending bill would would extend the 2018 Farm Bill by another year and includes a $10 billion economic relief package for farmers, who have been faced with declining crop prices and rising input costs in 2024.
The relief package is a much-needed proposal for Minnesota’s corn farmers, given how crop revenues are well below production costs this year and how the current farm bill is below the needed threshold. It won’t make Minnesota’s corn farmers whole, but it’s a critical measure to help stabilize growers as they seek operating loans this winter and plan for the 2025 crop year The year-end package also includes $21 billion in disaster assistance to cover revenue, quality or production losses in 2023 and 2024 due to natural disasters or drought.
“It’s tremendous to see that Congress has included economic relief for farmers in its year-end spending bill,” MCGA President Jim Kanten said. “We know it’s been a long road for this package, so we’re gratified to see its presence. We look forward to advocating for its passage in the coming days.”
Since the early months of 2024, MCGA farmer-leaders have worked hard to secure passage of a new farm bill testifying before Congress and meeting with lawmakers one on one. For example, this past summer, then-MCGA President Dana Allen-Tully testified to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee about the importance of a new bipartisan farm bill. She also reiterated the value farms bring not only to the growers who operate them, but also to the larger rural communities across the country.
The hearing was titled “Financial Conditions in Farm Country.” In her testimony, then-MCGA President Allen-Tully told the committee, “My aim here this morning is not to discourage you, but I do feel it’s important to provide a glimpse into the economic landscape that producers are facing right now. Unless conditions change, I believe we’re heading into a perfect storm, a storm that I don’t think will be fully appreciated until early next year when farmers try to get loans but are unable to do so because they cannot demonstrate the ability to cash flow.” We are grateful the Congress listened to that July warning and included economic and disaster aid to U.S. farmers and ranchers.
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