Preserving crop insurance, expanding trade market development programs as well as a desire for more partnerships between farmers, food banks and the government were all discussed in the fifth field farm bill hearing hosted by the House Agriculture Committee at Terra State Community College in Fremont, Ohio on Monday, Aug. 22.

General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee Chairwoman Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., was joined by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, to hear from approximately 230 members of the public participating in person or streaming online. Audience members discussed topics including crop insurance, conservation, specialty crops, local and regional food systems, and research, extension and education.

“Every five years, we have the opportunity to renew the programs our family farmers rely on through the farm bill,” says Bustos. “What’s most important during that process is hearing directly from folks from across the country about what’s working and what can be improved. During the third stop on my listening tour, it was wonderful to join Congresswoman Kaptur right here in Ohio to listen to local farmers and ag stakeholders. Their input is vital as we set the stage for a 2023 Farm Bill that best serves every part of our ag community.”

There are currently more than 77,000 farms in operation in Ohio covering nearly 14 million acres. Food and agriculture are the largest contributor to Ohio's economy at $124 billion, and farming helps provide approximately one out of every eight jobs in the state. Ohio is one of the top egg producing state in the country.

“Growing up in a small, family-run grocery store, our neighbors made what we sold. I know firsthand the grit and determination that define Ohio’s rural communities, and on the House Agriculture Committee, I am working to deliver for them. Taking what we’ve heard here in Fremont, Ohio, I look forward to working with Representative Cheri Bustos on a farm bill that invests in the farmers and agricultural producers who make and grow what makes and grows America,” says Kaptur.

Paul Herringshaw, who farms near Bowling Green and on behalf of the Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association, says the top priority for Ohio corn and wheat farmers is protecting crop insurance. He says attacks on the Federal crop insurance program have come from the left and right, but it remains an important tool to mitigate risk. He says it’s important to find ways to enhance the program’s effectiveness and cost.

Tyler Dravis, a farmer from Custer, Ohio, and also a board member of the Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association, reiterated the importance of crop insurance and any proposed cuts would be “very detrimental” in his ability to use the important risk mitigation tool. In Ohio, 1.5 million acres of cropland was not able to be planted in 2019 and crop insurance cuts could have limited that needed risk protection for many farmers including himself.

Meanwhile, Eli Dean, who farms 750 acres of certified organic crops in Sandusky County, says crop insurance works great for his farm and allows for individualized support and compensation quickly after a disaster, as well as provide confidence to the banker each spring when looking at operating loans. However, he suggests crop insurance adjustments should be made to adjust crop insurance back in balance with other payment limitations to limit support to larger operations so the “largest farms don’t keep getting bigger and the smaller and mid-sized can’t compete,” Dean says.

Angela Huffman, co-founder of Farm Action, urged the farm bill leaders to shift government farm support systems away from the production of high-calorie, low-nutrient processed foods and industrial animal feed and toward the nutrient-dense foods recommended by our federal dietary guidelines. In addition, she said requirements should be tied to crop insurance and farm support to require farmers to commit to conservation practices.

Joe Logan, who farms in Northeast Ohio and on behalf of the Ohio Farmers Union, encouraged legislators to reward farmers for building soil health and improving resilience of agriculture, which also would save money on crop insurance payments.

Vicki Askins, on behalf of the Ohio Farmers Union and Lake Erie Advocates, says there should be no new farm bill funds used for methane manure digestors, calling them a “magnet for more factory farms.” She states that the high costs of $4 to $7 million to install a digester should be bore by the private sector, not the federal government, as it takes usually 3,000 dairy cows to make it viable, leaving smaller operations unable to utilize the funds and encouraging larger operations to get larger. She says methane emissions have risen 15% since the Obama administration first started funding methane digestors.

Trade promotion funding

Herringshaw and Dravis encouraged continued support for the trade promotion programs authorized under the farm bill – the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development – which partner federal funds with private funds and with organizations on the ground. Dravis says the programs are vital to developing, creating and maintaining overseas markets. However, the level of funding has remained the same since 2006. He suggested doubling current levels and MAP should be funded at $400 million annually and $69 million annually.

MAP has been stagnant at a level of $200 million since 2006. Since that time, various external and internal factors have shrunk the actual MAP pot of funding that nearly 100 other agricultural trade associations rely on. These include sequestration (federal funding cuts), administration (USDA/FAS uses a percentage of MAP funding to administer the program), and inflation.

Additionally, the number of MAP program participants continues to increase, leaving less money for more participants. The end result is that the funding of $200 million in actual dollars ends up being closer to $130 million once indexed for inflation and considering the other factors.

Sugar policy reform

Kirk Vashaw, president of the Bryan, Ohio-based Spangler Candy and makers of the popular Dum-Dum suckers and only remaining U.S. manufacturer of candy canes, says the farm bill should also support the manufacturing sector which purchases U.S. farm products.

He says the current sugar policy, coupled with the trade agreements between Mexico and Canada, prevents the competitive purchase of sugar, as well as limited domestic sugar beet production. He says there are 200 jobs in Mexico he would like to move to Ohio if the sugar policy was changed.

“We ran out of sugar in April because of the supply chain,” he says. And the sugar program run by the government couldn’t react, he says. “Look at that program and see what we can do for supporting U.S. jobs.”