On Sept. 13 Rep. Bruce Braley introduced a discharge petition that would force the idling Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (the 2012 Farm Bill) to the House floor for a vote,
“This is important legislation should not be subject to partisan politics. It affects the livelihood of the 21,000 farmer members of the American Soybean Association, more than 600,000 soybean farmers nationwide, more than 2 million Americans working in agriculture, and the 23 million American jobs that depend on our industry,” Wellman said. “The bill provides risk management coverage for farmers for the next five years that simply will not be accomplished by a short-term extension. The bill also enables farmers to make planting decisions in the coming year and beyond with the knowledge of which farm programs will be in place.
“While the discharge petition advanced today by Congressman Braley is certainly an unorthodox tactic, we are now forced to support this drastic measure. Farmers have been told we haven’t expressed enough concern about the lack of new farm legislation. For weeks, we’ve been told there isn’t enough time to pass the bill. We’ve been told that a one-year extension or a piecemeal disaster bill will cover our needs in the interim. Our clear reply to Congress is that the only acceptable outcome is a full, five-year farm bill passed through the House before Sept. 30. If it takes Congressman Braley’s petition to make that happen, we’re behind it, and we encourage every member of the House that has a stake in ensuring certainty for America’s farmers to sign it.”
