Colorado Corn

Colorado Corn Farm Bill Objectives

Excerpted from a letter to elected officials ...

On behalf of the members of the Colorado Corn Growers Association, I am honored to convey the critical importance of maintaining a strong and viable farm economy while reducing the tax obligations on the American taxpayers and protecting our nation’s precious natural resources.

Colorado Corn Growers considers the Farm Bill to be a tool critical to sustaining a healthy farm economy and supports the following key elements as important for inclusion in a Farm Bill:

• We fully support a strong and affordable crop insurance program with both Optional Units and Enterprise Units. We also support allowing the separation of enterprise units by practice.

• We have always supported, and will continue to support, the need for a permanent disaster program. The drought of 2011 and 2012 reinforces the need for a permanent disaster program for both commodities and livestock producers. The 2008 disaster programs were tied to the level of crop insurance a producer purchased. Producers can purchase higher insurance levels, if necessary, to support their needs, while more established producers can purchase lower levels and assume more risk if they so choose. We strongly encourage the continuation of this option.

• We recommend removing the total farm formula from the current permanent disaster program and making it per enterprise unit to match up with crop insurance for disaster payments to encourage greater crop diversification.

• We support a much simpler commodity title for the 2013 Farm Bill.  The crop insurance and permanent disaster programs together give all producers the safety net needed to survive catastrophic weather-related losses and yet leaves planting decisions to be market driven.

• We are a strong supporter of the current CRP, CREP, EQIP and CSP programs and recommend these programs be maintained at no less than 90% of the current levels. Conservation is the very backbone of American agriculture and our land must be maintained for future generations. We also recognize and support the need for effective and timely response in times of drought or other natural disasters to access these acres for haying and grazing.

• We oppose direct payments, ACRE, and other proposed revenue enhancement programs that would ultimately lead to planting and market distortions.

One of our top priorities as a nation must be to provide a solid safety net to ensure the current and future generations of agricultural producers can continue to produce an abundant and safe food supply.

Rick Palkowitsh

Chair, Public Policy Committee

Colorado Corn Growers Association