Letter
Dear Chairwoman Baldwin, Chairman Bishop, Ranking Member Hoeven, and Ranking Member Harris:
As you work to complete the FY 2023 Agriculture Appropriations Bill in the context of omnibus legislation, we urge you to include adequate resources that extend the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) to cover losses for 2022.
Farm and ranch families from across the country continue to be harmed by extraordinary natural disasters, including a severe and chronic drought gripping much of the United States, Hurricane Ian, damaging freezes in the southeastern U.S. earlier this year, and late planting due to flooding and other weather conditions, to name only a few hardships facing producers in 2022.
On behalf of the members we represent, we thank you for the assistance you have provided in response to historic events, including retaliatory tariffs imposed by China, the pandemic, as well as exceptionally severe weather. Without this assistance, U.S. agriculture would be in serious crisis.
The 2023 Farm Bill presents an opportunity to strengthen the farm safety net to reduce, if not eliminate, the need for ad hoc programs, and we are working toward this end. However,
including an extension of ERP for 2022 losses would serve as a critical bridge to the next Farm Bill. The approach taken under Phase I of ERP worked well for producers and we encourage Congress to use this model for future relief, including for Phase II as well as 2022 losses, except where a unique approach for a commodity is required.
Thank you for your consideration of this important request.
Sincerely,
Agricultural Council of Arkansas
American Cotton Producers
American Soybean Association
American Sugar Alliance
California Walnut Commission
CropLife America
Colorado Sorghum Association
Cotton Warehouse Association of America
Delta Council
Farm Credit Council
Florida Cotton Producers Association
Georgia Blueberry Commission
Georgia Cotton Commission
Georgia Farm Bureau
Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association
Kansas Cotton Association
Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association
Louisiana Cotton and Grain Association
Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation
Midwest Council on Agriculture
Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
National Association of Wheat Growers
National Corn Growers Association
National Cotton Council
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
National Farmers Union
National Pecan Federation
National Sorghum Producers
Nebraska Sorghum Producers Association
New Mexico Sorghum Association
North Carolina Cotton Producers Association
Oklahoma Cotton Council
Oklahoma Sorghum Growers
Panhandle Peanut Growers Association
Plains Cotton Growers, Inc.
South Carolina Peach Council
South Texas Cotton and Grain Association
Southern Cotton Growers
Southern Rolling Plains Cotton Growers
Southwest Council of Agribusiness
St. Lawrence Cotton Growers
Texas Citrus Mutual
Texas Grain Sorghum Producers Association
U.S. Peanut Federation
USA Rice
Western Peanut Growers Association
