Hearing of the House Agriculture Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. Delgado, Hearing on Support for Small Farmers in Federal Policy

Hearing

This morning, U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) testified before the House Committee on Agriculture during their "Member Day" hearing which allows members to share the priorities they would like the committee to address. Rep. Delgado's testimony highlighted his conversations with Schoharie County dairy farmers this past weekend and urged the committee to consider the needs of small, family-owned farmers when crafting federal agricultural policy and in federally-subsidized food programs. Below is a video and transcript of his testimony.

"Good morning. Let me start by thanking Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Conway for the opportunity to join you all this morning. I'm pleased to be here on behalf of the nearly 5,000 small farms and over 8,000 farm operators in my district, 96% of which are family farms.

"We do not have big corporate farms back home in upstate New York, which makes things challenging given how much of our federal policy is geared towards supporting the large-scale operations. Indeed, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has repeatedly opined that the demise of the small family farm is "inevitable.' I disagree. It is a choice.

"This choice is exactly why I sit with you today. This past weekend, I joined the Schoharie County Farm Bureau at Argus Acres Farm where I met with several dairy farmers operating across the county--they represent generations of family farmers. We cannot and will not "choose' to leave these folks behind when crafting federal policy.

"Supporting our family farmers starts with pushing back against group think supporting economies of scale rather than economies of cooperation. Economies of cooperation ought to guide our work to create inclusive policy that helps every farmer get ahead: that means giving small family farmers the tools to access increased market share, supporting the next generation of farmers, equipping our farmers to respond to a changing and challenging climate, and crafting legislation that specifically combats monolithic agriculture policy that drowns out the voices of family-owned farms.

"A first step to addressing these headwinds facing small farmers includes giving our farmers the increased flexibility to reorganize their finances. To that end, I worked with Chairman Peterson on legislation that will help farmers through this challenging time for agriculture. The Family Farmer Relief Act lifts the eligibility cap, from $3 million to $10 million, for Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings which allows small farmers the flexibility to reorganize, restructure and repay their debt. It passed the House and the Senate earlier this year and was signed by the President in August. This law is not a panacea, but it is certainly one that helps our small farmers.

"While it is important for our farmers to have increased flexibility--I urge the committee to better tailor our federal policy to support family owned farms. This includes removing barriers to success for the next generation of young farmers. I've introduced the bipartisan Young Farmer Success Act which adds farmers and ranchers to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. This legislation, which is currently moving as a part of the College Affordability Act will be voted on by the full House soon.

"As we think about the future generations of farmers, we must also consider the significant risks posed by climate change as farmers face unpredictable growing patterns, threats to long-term soil health, and more severe extreme weather events. I urge the committee to support tax credits and incentives for climate friendly practices including carbon sequestration.

"Additionally, as a committee it is our duty to acknowledge the significant headwinds facing dairy producers today: including low prices and increased market consolidation. And continue to fight for the interests of our small dairy farmers and protect their ability to stay in business. I'm proud to support the bipartisan Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2019, which allows schools in the School Lunch Program to buy flavored and unflavored whole milk for students, and the Dairy Pride Act, which combats the mislabeling non-dairy products, are important, incremental steps to bolster support for our small dairy farms.

"I will continue to push to bring more product from our local farmers into our public schools, hospitals and other more localized institutions. As we consider future legislation to support our farmers and specifically consider the plight of small farms, the policies pursued by this committee should not foster market consolidation, but rather serve as a check against it.

"Our small farms are also feeling disproportionate impacts form the President's scattershot trade policies. The United States is now paying more to help our farmers deal with tariffs than we did to bail out the auto industry during the great recession, more than double.

"The Administration's own attempts to combat these tariffs continue to advantage big ag -- for example, the Environmental Working Group found that in the administration's first round of trade aid for farmers, more than half of total payments went to the top 10% of farmers -- in other words, the largest and wealthiest farms in the country. Our policies must be tailored to address urgent needs for small, family-owned farmers during this down farm economy.

"I will close this morning by once again highlighting my experiences this weekend with dairy farmers in Schoharie County. These are the folks we must look out for, those who have maintained family farmland for generations. This time-honored tradition is crucial to our upstate way of life and we will not allow them to just go away. I thank you all again for the opportunity to testify and look forward continuing to working alongside the committee to support our small farmers."

Source