News
Trump 2020 budget calls for USDA cuts
National Farmers Union (NFU) President
Roger Johnson says President Trump’s 2020 budget proposal released today
continues the administration’s disturbing trend of neglect for the welfare of
farm families across the U.S. Trump’s budget contains proposed cuts to the USDA
and other federal agencies in order to increase spending on a proposed border
wall and defense programs.
The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee calls President Trump’s budget request “a roadmap for how to make things worse for farmers. Minnesota Democrat Collin Peterson issued a statement saying this proposal tells him one of two things: either the White House doesn’t understand why these programs are important, or they don’t care. He says the 15 percent cuts to USDA programs are short-sighted and concocted by a bunch of ideologues who can’t see what’s going on in the farm economy.
Peterson
says the good news is Trump’s budget is going nowhere in Congress, where the
bipartisan farm bill passed with 369 votes.
Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue defends Trump’s budget saying it’s fiscally conservative at a time when the economy is booming and unemployment is the lowest in decades. While agriculture still faces challenges, Perdue says the U.S. will maintain a safety net for farmers, ranchers, foresters, producers, and families who need food assistance.
Johnson says “There is a very clear disconnect between President Trump’s priorities and the economic realities facing family farmers, ranchers, and rural communities” with additional damages from self-inflicted trade disruptions, increasing demand for credit. President Trump’s proposed budget released Monday has a proposed 15% USDA cut, but crop insurance and Commodity Credit Corporation funding would increase.
The Ranking Member of the
Senate Ag Committee says she’s concerned about Trump’s proposed 15 percent cuts
to the USDA budget, on top of cutting farm bill investments by $267 billion in
the next fiscal year.
Michigan Senator Debbie
Stabenow, a Democrat, says the steep cuts to USDA would jeopardize the
Department’s ability to implement the farm bill at a time when farmers are
struggling with economic instability and trade uncertainty.
