Congress Approves 2018 Farm Bill

Statement

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 369-47 to pass the 2018 Farm Bill, Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 2 - Agriculture Improvement Act. The legislation now heads to President Trump for his signature into law.

"Farm Country has waited long enough, and today Congress delivered," said Rep. Newhouse. "As a third-generation Yakima Valley farmer, I know the Farm Bill plays an enormously important role in Central Washington's agriculture economy by delivering a secure safety net for farmers and providing for research that keeps us on the cutting edge of global innovation. Farmers are struggling with a 50-percent drop in net farm income over the past five years, which is why market access programs and crop insurance are critical to providing certainty for agriculture producers. While some improvements were made, I would have preferred to include stronger provisions to improve nutrition programs and forestry management. Farmers needed action sooner rather than later. I applaud Chairman Conaway for his hard work in getting this bill across the finish line."

2018 Farm Bill Conference Report Highlights:

Study to include hops in crop insurance: The Conference Report includes language making hops eligible for crop insurance and directs the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Board (FCIC) to streamline the process for developing hop insurance policies. The bill requires FCIC to submit a report on hops policies one year after the enactment to the Agricultural Committees that describes the results of the policy developments along with any recommendations.
Dairy protection: The Conference Report renames the dairy Margin Protection Program to Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and builds on the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) investment by offering new coverage levels for the first 5 million pounds of production, drastically reducing premiums on catastrophic coverage levels for larger producers, and eliminating the restriction between the margin program (formerly MPP, now DMC) and Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) insurance.
Expedites environmental reviews to protect our forests: The conference report encourages proper management for healthy and productive federal, state, and private forests and incentivizes infrastructure and new market opportunities to revitalize communities and healthy landscapes. The conference report simplifies environmental reviews while still ensuring robust protection of the environment.

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