(Washington, D.C.) - Montana's senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus and his office worked through the night on Wednesday to secure Montana priorities in the Farm Bill that passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on a vote of 16-5 Thursday afternoon.  At Baucus' insistence, the bill makes the Livestock Disaster Program Baucus created in 2008 permanent, and it includes changes to ensure safety net programs work for Montana producers.  The final bill responsibly cuts between $23 and $25 billion from the deficit, while also creating a strong new safety net program that maintains the support Montana producers need.

"One in five Montana jobs is tied to agriculture - one in five.  Every one of those workers is one of my bosses, and this is their jobs bill.  I'll continue working closely with Montanans as we move through the process to make sure we end up with a final Farm Bill that works for them," Baucus said.   

Key Montana Priorities Baucus Secured:

•  Permanent Livestock Disaster Assistance Program. Baucus first created this program in 2008 to compensate ranchers for live­stock or grazing land losses due to disasters such as fire, drought or hail. Since then Livestock Disaster Assistance has paid out more than $16.5 million to Montana ranchers. In making the program permanent this year, Baucus also added predation by government introduced species to the list of losses that qualify for assistance. This change is meant to compensate Montana ranchers for livestock killed by wolves.
•  A Strong New Safety Net. The new safety net program, knows as Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC,) shares many commonalities with the Revenue Loss Assistance Program (RLAP) Baucus proposed earlier this year. Like RLAP, ARC creates a strong new safety net program that combines elements from the Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance (SURE) and Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) into one streamlined and more effective program.
•  A Safety Net that Works for Montana. To qualify for payments under the new safety-net program, producers must suffer specific losses from weather or other disasters. At issue in the Agriculture Committee was whether those losses should be calculated at the individual farm level or based on the overall county numbers. Baucus insisted on a compromise that lets producers choose for themselves how their losses are calculated. The individual farm level option is critical in Montana because of the states' large counties and variable weather. Because it's not uncommon in Montana for a field in one end of a county to get hailed out or flooded, while farmers in the other end of the county may be reporting record years, a county-level trigger in Montana could mean some producers would not qualify for payments when they need them, while others might qualify for payments even though they had no losses.

Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow of Michigan said of Baucus at the meeting, "We would not have a Livestock Disaster Assistance Program without your advocacy." 

"Thanks to Max's work to create the Livestock Disaster Assistance Program, Montana ranchers finally have a safety net the can count on. And making that program permanent will ensure it will be there for our producers when they need it," said Montana Stockgrowers Vice President Errol Rice.

"Max and his team made sure Montana farmers had a voice in this process every step of the way," said Montana Grain Growers Executive Vice President Lola Raska, who was in contact with Baucus' office late into Wednesday evening as they worked to reach a final compromise.  "We knew Max wouldn't back down until he got the best deal for Montana farmers.  A farm-level option was essential for us and he delivered."

Stabenow also joked in her introduction of Baucus that she had learned more about Montana and the specific agriculture needs of the state than ever before because of Baucus' insistence on changes to ensure safety-net programs be structured in a way that works for Montana producers.  

 Without Baucus she said, "We wouldn't have significant improvements in the farm-level Arc Program.  I have learned more about Montana - I think I could tell every member of the committee about how Montana has bigger counties than Michigan. I now understand the differences. . . Nobody could fight harder for Montana."

  Other victories Baucus Secured in the bill include:

• Provides support for veterans to begin career in Agriculture and creates a new veterans Liaison Office at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
• Continues working lands programs that allow Montana producers to take advantage of conservation programs while still continuing to farm or ranch on their land.

February 28, 2012 - Baucus Invites Montanans to Testify on Conservation in the 2012 Farm Bill during Senate Agriculture Hearing

•  Provides $1.5 million a year for a Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program without adding to the deficit.
• Extends of the Sugar program, which is critical to Montana Sugar beet farmers.
• Continues support for Agriculture Extension Services.
• Includes a competitive grant program to develop, implement, and sustain necessary vet medical services in needed areas, which is important for Montana because the state currently has no veterinary school and is underserved by veterinary services.  In February 2012, this program provides six awards for a total of $500,000 in Montana.
•  Invests $100 million nationwide to fight Bark Beetle infestation.
• Improves USDA lending programs for Montana's Indian reservations and makes several improvements for Indians in agriculture, including opening up the Healthy Forests Reserve Program, removing burdensome regulations, and creating a permanent Indian Agriculture Office.

Production quality video and audio:

MP3 audio file:   http://gp1d.senate.gov/sdmc/Baucus/042612_BAUCUS_1_AUDIO.mp3

MPEG2 video files:
HD...http://gp1d.senate.gov/sdmc/Baucus/042612_BAUCUS_1_FTP.M2T

SD...http://gp1d.senate.gov/sdmc/Baucus/042612_BAUCUS_1_FTP.MPG  

Pathfire Feed: Slug: Baucus Farm Bill

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