While the president was solving the problems of the Mideast and mending fences with the pope, the legislative poop hit the proverbial fan when the Office of Management and Budget made public the administration’s final budget proposal that would drastically slash federal agriculture programs over 10 years.
When the preliminary budget proposal came out a few weeks ago, ripping farm programs a whopping 21 percent, ag organizations couched their concerns in somewhat diplomatic language. But when they got a look at the proposed final budget, the gloves came off and the e-mails started flying.
Typical was this statement by Food Policy Action: “…the budget the president released is filled with misplaced priorities that would be terrible for America’s food system, our people, and our nation. Families, seniors, and farmers, who are already struggling, would find it harder to put food on the table and make ends meet.”
It goes on: “This budget is also a bad deal for rural America, by eliminating conservation and rural development programs that protect our precious lands, waterways, and watersheds, and promote economic growth in rural America. We call on Congress to reject this proposal and stop this radical agenda in its tracks.”
The National Association of Conservation Districts decried the “reckless cuts to every part of USDA and many other federal programs that support voluntary conservation.”
Noting that only two months ago the president was praising U.S. farmers and ranchers in a special National Ag Day proclamation, encouraging all Americans to recognize "the preeminent role that agriculture plays" in our daily lives and the national economy, and expressing "deep appreciation for the folks who feed and clothe us," Farm Policy Facts, in a news release titled “The Short Straw for Farmers Once Again,” said, “It is now clear that these words of deep appreciation were … a foil for deep cuts to farm policy. It adds insult to injury, as the old saying goes. Farmers aren't looking for praise — they're looking for a fair shake. Sadly, in the first round of the Washington budget game, they have come up short on both."
Source: www.deltafarmpress.com