The National Cotton Council (NCC) strongly supports the farm policy provisions in the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (Farm Bill) and believes today’s House passage of the bill is an extremely important and strong step toward providing much needed stability to the U.S. cotton industry.

NCC Chairman Ron Craft, a Plains, Texas, ginner, said, “our industry is tremendously grateful for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway’s (R-TX) leadership in the development of this legislation and getting it to a successful vote in the House.”

See: Farm bill passes House

He said the industry also appreciates the strong support from Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN) and the many Cotton Belt Representatives in helping to get this farm legislation through the House without damaging amendments such as those that would compromise crop insurance and impose stricter payment limits and eligibility provisions.

“Without strong commodity and crop insurance policies underpinning U.S. agriculture,” Craft stated, “lenders would be reluctant to provide financing to an industry operating at the mercy of weather extremes and volatile global market prices.”

Craft said this farm bill not only can help cotton producers obtain the financing necessary for capital investments and annual crop production but can support a healthy and thriving rural economy that includes cotton gins, warehouses, marketing co-ops and merchants to market the crop, cottonseed handlers, and textile manufacturers – and the businesses that support them.

“The NCC is continuing to work with the Senate to reverse the harmful changes made to cotton policy during last week’s Senate Agriculture Committee consideration of its farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018,” Craft said.

The full Senate may consider its farm bill the week of June 25.

Source: National Cotton Council http://www.cotton.org/