Lucas expects direct payments to be made
January 18, 2013 | 02:08 PM
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said Thursday that he expects the Agriculture Department to make the direct payments which were included in the farm bill extension as part of the “fiscal cliff” bill, DTN reported.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has questioned whether Congress will use the direct payments budget authority for other purposes, either in dealing with the deficit or the farm bill.
Following is Lucas’s compete statement:
“While farmers and ranchers have been denied the five years of certainty a new farm bill would provide, folks in Washington need to stop the guessing game about farm policy for the 2013 crop year, especially with respect to direct payments. The existing safety net was extended a year to provide the certainty producers need for the 2013 crop year. This is the law of the land.
“Anyone familiar with the business of agriculture knows that producers across the country are making spring planting decisions and securing operating loans as we speak. And, I fully expect sign-up for the 2013 crop year — including direct payments — to begin as soon as possible.
“I assure you that the five-year farm bill that we will mark up in my Committee will honor the commitment Congress made to growers when it extended the 2008 farm bill to cover the 2013 crop year.”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has questioned whether Congress will use the direct payments budget authority for other purposes, either in dealing with the deficit or the farm bill.
Following is Lucas’s compete statement:
“While farmers and ranchers have been denied the five years of certainty a new farm bill would provide, folks in Washington need to stop the guessing game about farm policy for the 2013 crop year, especially with respect to direct payments. The existing safety net was extended a year to provide the certainty producers need for the 2013 crop year. This is the law of the land.
“Anyone familiar with the business of agriculture knows that producers across the country are making spring planting decisions and securing operating loans as we speak. And, I fully expect sign-up for the 2013 crop year — including direct payments — to begin as soon as possible.
“I assure you that the five-year farm bill that we will mark up in my Committee will honor the commitment Congress made to growers when it extended the 2008 farm bill to cover the 2013 crop year.”
