Page 71 - MFB State Annual Meeting 2018 -- RESOLUTIONS BOOK

7.2.10.2. A floating conservation-oriented commodity loan program that increases loan prices, addresses conservation goals and satisfies the credit needs of beginning farmers.
7.2.11. Research:
7.2.11.1. Funding for agricultural research and education.
7.2.12. Acreage Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative (ACRSI): 7.2.12.1. Simplifying procedures, reducing paperwork
requirements and streamlining interactions between the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, National Agricultural
Statistics Service, and the Risk Management
Agency; and
7.2.12.2. Congress creating Farm Bill language directing USDA
to adopt better data integration and analysis practices from farmer driven data to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of farm programs, crop insurance, and conservation programs while supporting producer profitability and environmental performance on working lands.
8. General Issues 8.1. We support:
8.1.1. Giving farmers the ability to sign up once for the duration of the farm bill, assuming there are no changes to the farming operations;
8.1.2. Allowing farms with fewer than 10 base acres to be eligible to receive farm program payments;
8.1.3. Requiring compliance by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) with all federal rule-making notification procedures;
8.1.4. Farm Service Agency (FSA) evaluating the drought criteria used for drought compensation;
8.1.5. Providing timely notification to producers of all program requirements;
8.1.6. Providing payment notification information that match 1099 tax forms with descriptions that clearly reflect the source of the payment;
8.1.7. Implementation in such a manner as to minimize the disruptions to landlord-tenant relationships. We support efforts to provide the state FSA Committee authority to determine eligibility requirements for farm program benefits;
8.1.8. The elimination of any USDA requirement to report the specific cash rental amounts between a landlord and a tenant in an effort to protect a farmer's right to privacy. We do, however, support the requirement to report the type of lease agreement;
8.1.9. Requiring FSA to constantly review and make public the formula used to set posted county prices (PCPs) to ensure they accurately reflect market conditions at the county level and that the differential between the cash price and PCP does not penalize producers or county elevators. The formula for calculating the terminal price, differential, and the PCP should be public information to allow producers the opportunity to maximize program benefits;
8.1.10. Providing the secretary of agriculture discretionary authority to provide assistance to producers during times of economic disaster;
8.1.11. Allowing for verification of actual physical measurement if computer measuring or Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of farm acres results in different acreage measurements than has been the historical case. The cost incurred for such measurement should be borne by the party in error;
8.1.12. Allowing a single sign up that covers all programs for a crop year;
8.1.13. Programmatic and systemic efficiencies that eliminate the need for repeated farmer visits to county FSA offices;
8.1.14. Changing FSA regulations to not require farms that are owned and operated by the same individual, but not contiguous, be reconstituted into one farm;
AFBF Policies – Page 15