Farm Bill.
In alignment with NCGA, The Kentucky Corn Growers Association is working to ensure the next farm bill addresses the priorities of corn growers.
Protect Crop Insurance
Federal crop insurance provides market-oriented risk management tools for growers to respond to yield and revenue losses from natural disasters.
Kentucky Corn and NCGA oppose efforts to restrict producer access to crop insurance products and harmful program cuts. Corn growers support increasing the affordability of crop insurance for producers.
Bolster International Market Development
USDA trade programs boost U.S. agricultural exports and are important to agriculture and related businesses in rural America.
The Market Access Program (MAP) helps producers, exporters, private companies and other organizations finance promotional activities for agricultural products from the United States. MAP is designed to encourage development, maintenance and expansion of commercial markets for U.S. agricultural exports.
Foreign Market Development (FMD) is a joint government/agri-industry effort to develop markets by acquainting potential foreign customers with U.S. farm products. Activities under this program include providing technical assistance to prospective foreign buyers, overseas food exhibitions, product demonstrations and marketing efforts aimed at foreign consumers.
Kentucky Corn and NCGA supports increasing MAP funding from $200 million up to $400 million annually and the FMD program funding from $34.5 million up to $69 million annually.
Support Voluntary Conservation Programs
U.S. corn farmers are committed to conservation practices. USDA conservation programming plays an important role in helping advance the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices.
Kentucky Corn and NCGA support:
- Creating a USDA initiative to use conservation programming to reduce development of weed resistance to protect viability of conservation tillage and cover cropping practices.
- Creating a USDA Natural Research Conservation Service (NRCS) grant program to cover total costs of retaining a full-time coordinator for farmer-led collaborative watershed projects to reduce nutrient losses.
- Expanding and strengthening NRCS’ Interim Conservation Practice Standards initiative to speed the development and adoption of innovative conservation practices.
Strengthen the Producer Safety Net
Corn growers support improvements to strengthen the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) commodity programs. These programs provide farmers with a safety net when they face significant drops in crop prices or revenues.
Kentucky Corn and NCGA support:
- Increasing the ARC County maximum payment rate above 10 percent.
- Increasing the ARC County coverage level above 86 percent.
- Strengthening the PLC effective reference price “escalator.”
Kentucky Corn and NCGA oppose lowering payment limits and adjusted gross income limits below current levels.