As the fiscal year 2024 (FY24) budget is being developed, ASPB joined forces with more than 400 organizations sending a letter to House and Senate Budget and Agriculture Committee members calling for providing the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and House Committee on Agriculture with sufficient budgetary resources. These budget resources could be used to write new legislation to address the impact of supply chain disruptions, such as tensions with trade partner China that have revealed gaps in the farm safety net.
“Continuing rising tensions with this important trading partner [China] underscore the need in the next farm bill for a more meaningful, predictable farm safety net and the need to invest more into trade promotion programs to help diversify agricultural markets,” the letter states.
Budget resources would also go toward “protecting and enhancing crop insurance to assist with volatile weather and crop loss, improving access to voluntary conservation incentives, addressing rural development needs, investing in research for innovation and competitiveness, providing opportunities to help the nation become more energy independent and food secure, and supporting solutions to address logistics challenges.”
