Crawford in The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Bridge the Gap for Our Farmers
By Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-01)
Our nation’s farmers play an integral role in Americans’ daily lives. Whether you live in a rural community or in downtown Little Rock, Fayetteville, or Washington, D.C., farmers are responsible for feeding, clothing, and fueling our nation and the world.
Today’s agricultural industry faces numerous challenges and daily uncertainties, putting enormous stress on our farmers–and that’s in a good year. Conditions producers are enduring at this moment are far from good. They are, without doubt, the most severe that the industry has faced since the 1980s–maybe even worse.
Right now, thousands of American farmers are staring down dire financial circumstances–missed payments to creditors, possible bankruptcy, and for some, the agonizing decision to shut down altogether farming operations that have been in their families for generations and that have sustained communities for decades.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans took action, passing and signing into law the Working Families Tax Cut Act, which makes substantial investments to modernize the farm safety net. This includes updating statutory reference prices in Price Loss Coverage (PLC) for all covered commodities, ranging from 10 to 21 percent. It also doubled the funding for programs that identify new foreign markets for U.S. agriculture products, expanded long-term mandatory investments in popular conservation programs like Environmental Quality Incentives (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship (CSP), and increased premium support for all crop insurance plans by 3 to 5 percent.
The fact is that the farm safety-net modernization provisions in the Working Families Tax Cut Act and emergency relief payments are vital to lifting the burden on our producers and rural communities; however, I repeatedly hear from farmers that they need help now–immediately–not when the PLC payments are distributed in the second half of next year. That’s why I have been working very closely with the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find ways to provide emergency relief to our farmers now. That was the motivation behind introducing my Bridge the Gap for Rural Communities Act, which was recently endorsed by the Arkansas Bankers Association.
While I am confident President Trump and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins are doing everything they can to provide our farmers with emergency relief payments, the reality is we don’t know how much will be allocated. We remain hopeful for robust amounts; however, I want to ensure there are other avenues available for farmers that can bridge the gap until the investments from the Working Families Tax Cut Act kick in.
My legislation suspends the payment limitation for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and PLC programs for the 2025 crop year and provides farmers the option to elect, by Dec. 1, a 50 percent partial payment by the end of the year instead of waiting until October 2026.
This is intended to provide an option for those farmers who would choose to take advantage of it. It is by no means required. It is another tool in the rural economy toolbox, and it stands alongside other efforts, including the push for emergency relief payments by House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, and President Trump.
We must recognize that every farmer has differing circumstances, and while some may choose to forgo the benefits provided in this bill, some farmers may need the support to bridge the gap until other relief efforts can take effect.
While this proposed legislation will not, by itself, fix all that ails today’s farm economy, it could provide farmers some measure of support to help them make it to next year–and hopefully a better economic climate. It also allows agriculture lenders, who have unfortunately had to carry over farm loans from year-to-year, an opportunity to put something more concrete on their balance sheets as they look at what to do for next season’s operating loans.
After hearing from numerous farmers in my district and across Arkansas, it is clear that something needs to be done right now. Whether farmers opt in to the advanced payments provided in my legislation will be up to them. But as the representative for Arkansas’ 1st District, I cannot sit by and watch my constituents lose their farms without at least some option for support.
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