[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 177 (Monday, December 2, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S6747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Farm Bill

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, our farmers are hurting. Increased 
input costs, high interest rates, and depressed commodity prices have 
created dark conditions in rural America. Farmers, lenders, and 
community leaders in all regions of the country are saying the same 
thing: Farmers desperately need help.
  When you look at the numbers, it is clear, the pain our farm families 
are living through. As of the end of November, row crop farmers 
nationwide are projected to lose more than $29 billion, corn growers 
will lose more than $11 billion, soybean producers will lose $5.7 
billion, and wheat farmers will lose more than $5 billion. The numbers 
aren't better for other commodities. Cotton, sorghum, rice, and peanut 
producers are ending 2024 with projected average losses of over $200 
per acre.
  The reality behind these losses is even more worrisome. For some 
producers, this is the second or third consecutive year of negative 
cashflow. This means many farm families are ending 2024 in the red: 
unable to pay off this year's operating loan, unable to get the loan to 
farm in 2025, and facing the reality of being the generation to have 
lost the family farm due to extreme market conditions beyond their 
control. One Arkansas farmer recently shared that he had the best crop 
yield of his career, but he is still underwater because commodity 
prices are well below the cost of production. Even for producers who 
haven't seen severe losses in 2024, the concern for 2025 continues to 
escalate as margins are forecasted to remain poor.
  In the last few months, there has been a significant shift in the 
spirit of our farmers. After years of unprecedented challenges, they 
are discouraged and pleading for stronger tools to help survive these 
conditions.
  Farm groups are sounding the alarm. The American Farm Bureau says 
there are clear economic warning signs of need in rural America. 
Agricultural Council of Arkansas President Nathan Reed described the 
conditions that Natural State farmers are facing as ``virtually 
impossible to net anything but a significant loss regardless of crop, 
yield or safety net coverage.''
  The severity of these losses has left many producers questioning if 
they have a future in farming. Established farmers are hesitant to risk 
what little equity remains, while young and beginning farmers don't 
have the capital necessary to survive these conditions.
  The Southwest Council of Agribusiness expressed concerns about the 
full-time farm and ranch families unable to continue and the 
consequences that would result with these farms being ``lost or forced 
into consolidation.''
  The USDA has acknowledged the hardships some producers are 
experiencing as a result of natural disasters, but it is not enough. 
Federal assistance must support agriculture producers facing market 
losses, and it needs to happen quickly. Producers need an efficient 
mechanism to provide 2024 economic assistance and certainty for 2025 
through an improved farm safety net.
  It is an understanding that is gaining support on both sides of the 
Capitol. In an Appropriations Committee hearing last month, Senator 
Hyde-Smith called for the robust and swift delivery of emergency 
assistance to agriculture producers because of adverse market 
conditions. I appreciate the leadership of House Agriculture Committee 
Chairman GT Thompson and Congressman Trent Kelly for recognizing the 
urgent need and proposing a solution.
  Congress should provide significant economic assistance to producers 
before the end of the year. We need to provide producers with the 
certainty and the predictability to be able to go to the bank and have 
confidence that help is on the way so that they can continue farming.
  In recent meetings with members of the Texas Farm Bureau, the Midwest 
Council on Agriculture, USA Rice, and the Arkansas Farm Bureau, who 
have been growing food and fiber for generations, they are worried 
about what the banker will say when they go to get credit for the 2025 
crop year and what that means to their future in the industry. If 
Congress does not act appropriately, I worry many of these producers 
may not be around next year.
  Agriculture is an important part of our country's heritage and our 
economy. Our producers grow an abundant and affordable supply of food 
and fiber. They must have the tools they need to manage this extremely 
difficult market. We must help our farmers recover from the sizable 
losses they realized in 2024 and give them certainty for 2025. This 
assistance is crucial to the viability of agriculture in the United 
States.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.