This month, we celebrated National Farmer Day, a vitally important group of people for our country to recognize, especially in Alabama. Alabama has over 37,000 farm operations spanning more than 8.6 million acres. These producers raise cattle, cotton, peanuts and everything in between to keep our store shelves stocked and our dinner tables full.
Unfortunately, they have been left behind by the Biden-Harris Administration.
Input prices have skyrocketed, and commodity prices have fallen in the Biden-Harris economy, forcing our farmers, ranchers and foresters to rely on reference prices and the farm safety net to stay in business. Reference prices are meant to trigger extra resources for them when market prices fall too low.
After hearing from producers across the state at my Farm Bill listening sessions, increasing these reference prices to help producers stay afloat became my top priority as a member of the House Agriculture Committee. National Farmer Day is a great time to highlight the importance of addressing this issue and others by getting the bipartisan Farm Bill passed by the House through the Senate and to Biden’s desk to become law.
The Biden-Harris Administration is not interested in standing up for producers, but House Republicans are.
We understand that the delay in Farm Bill passage may also cause a need for some supplemental funding. That’s why I have co-sponsored the Farm Assistance and Revenue Mitigation Act, which would provide emergency assistance to producers of eligible commodities for which the expected revenue in crop year 2024 is below the projected per-acre cost of production.
I know this assistance will be critical in helping our producers pay the bills to keep their operations running and I will urge my colleagues to pass this legislation.
Paul Harvey once famously said, in a speech to the FFA Convention: “God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds, and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place – so God made a farmer.”
Our Alabama producers are the backbone of our state, and we will always be grateful for their dedication, on National Farmer Day and every day. It is past time we step in and get them the help they need to keep Alabama strong.
If you need help from my office with the VA, IRS, or another federal agency, or if we can help you with a government service like processing a passport request, I hope you will reach out to us. We’ve resolved over 5,500 cases since I took office in 2021. Visit one of my offices in Wetumpka, Dothan, Andalusia, Troy, or Washington, call us at 334-478- 6330, or visit http://barrymoore.house.gov to learn how we can help.
