WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2015 – Almost 400 organizations with ties to agriculture, food, conservation and rural America wrote a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Budget Committees, calling on them to reject demands for additional cuts in programs that fall under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees.
The letter noted that the 2014 Farm bill resulted in the consolidation of over 100 programs and was estimated to contribute $23 billion in deficit reduction over 10 years.
“These difficult cuts were made across the farm safety net, conservation programs, and nutrition programs. The policy changes and reforms associated with these cuts are only now being fully implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture. As such, no additional cuts to these programs should be considered, at least until these policies have time to take place and be thoroughly evaluated,” the letter emphasized.
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Organizations signing the letter are significant, not only for the large number of participants but for the diversity of support. A wide variety of farm organizations, such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Milk Producers Federation, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the National Farmers Union signed the letter. But they were also joined by groups such as the American Association of Retired Persons, the American Heart Association, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Food Bank of Central New York, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies and others.
The letter arrives as the House and Senate Budget Committees are expected to advance their proposals and use budget reconciliation to require additional cuts in many spending areas.
For the full letter, click here.
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