House Approves Bill Supporting Family Farms
The House on Tuesday approved H.R. 4157, the Preserving America’s Family Farms Act, by voice vote. In a letter to House members sent earlier this week, the American Farm Bureau Federation and a number of other agriculture-related organizations expressed support for passage of the bill.
The legislation preserves the ability of youth to gain training and education by working on the farm. It also protects the agricultural way of life from future child labor regulations that could limit the ability of youth to learn valuable skills by working on the farm.
USDA Drought Actions Will Help Farmers, Ranchers
The American Farm Bureau Federation on Tuesday expressed appreciation for a series of emergency actions announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to provide much-needed assistance to America’s farm and ranch families suffering from the drought gripping much of the nation.
While the announcement will help many farmers and ranchers, there are areas of the United States that may require expedited assistance due to established grazing prohibitions. These prohibitions would prevent grazing until the nutritional value of the grazing plants has totally been diminished by the drought, according to AFBF.
For many farmers and ranchers, however, the USDA actions will result in immediate flexibility in the nation’s major conservation programs, related to haying, grazing and livestock watering. The actions will help provide crucial assistance to hard-hit livestock producers. Vilsack also said he has additional plans to call on crop insurance companies to provide “a short grace period” since some farmers may struggle to pay insurance premiums at the close of this crop year.
