Of the $65.6 billion farm bill provisions in the law, $60 billion goes directly to the farm safety net.
For the first time since 2002, additional money has been added to the farm bill through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Robbie Minnich with the National Cotton Council rates that as a big achievement in and of itself.
Of the $65.6 billion farm bill provisions in the law, $60 billion goes directly to the farm safety net. Minnich, National Cotton Council vice president of Washington operations, said when the new provisions are combined with existing crop insurance options, total benefits to cotton farmers are estimated at $305 per acre at current price levels.
“Every industry priority for cotton was addressed in one way or another. We were able to increase the reference price. Payment limits were actually increased. We were able to increase and modernize the marketing loan program,” Minnich said at a NCC farm bill meeting at the East Carolina Agriculture & Education Center in Rocky Mount, N.C. Sept. 11.
“The supplemental coverage option with crop insurance looks a lot more like STAX. Crop insurance subsidies almost across the board were increased, making it more affordable for producers. The Economic Adjustment Assistance for textile mills, the program that helps keep mills competitive against China, was increased to its highest level ever,” Minnich said.
New cotton provisions include:
- Beginning with the 2025 crop (this year’s crop), the seed cotton reference price will increase to 42 cents per pound from 36.7 cents per pound, a 14% increase.
- Beginning with the 2031 crop, the reference price for all covered commodities will increase by 1% per year.
ARC (Agriculture Risk Coverage) and PLC (Price Loss Coverage) payment limits will increase from $125,000 to $155,000 and will be indexed to inflation in future years.
- Certain entities such as S-Corps and LLCs to be treated the same as General Partnerships with regard to the structure of payment limits.
Minnich said the bill enhances the coverage and affordability of shallow-loss insurance programs while maintaining the ability for cotton farmers to purchase these products and enroll in PLC and ARC.
“Unless you are buying insurance at really low levels, your premium should go down because the premium subsidy, the government’s portion of it, is going up,” Minnich said.
Minnich noted that the 42-cent seed cotton reference price won’t go in effect until the 2026 crop year. He acknowledged this presents a challenge to economically strapped cotton farmers this crop year. “We got to figure out how we keep farmers farming until then,” he said.
“Congress just rolled out $90 billion to the farm economy in the last eight months so Congress is a tough sale at this point. But the administration is a different story. We’re talking to Congress. We’re also talking with the administration,” he said.
Minnich said National Cotton Council President and CEO Gary Adams met with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in August about the need for USDA to provide immediate assistance to cotton farmers this year. He said Adams received good feedback from the secretary.
“We’re going to keep talking about it. We’re going to keep pushing it,” he said.
Source: https://www.farmprogress.com/