“Farmers and ranchers need the certainty of a completed farm bill in order to make business decisions for next year,” said Kansas Farm Bureau President Steve Baccus. “A strong, affordable crop insurance safety net will help crop producers develop individual risk management plans. Reauthorizing livestock disaster programs will protect Kansas ranchers from catastrophic losses such as those suffered by our South Dakota friends after the recent blizzard.”

Baccus said Congress must fund all titles in the new farm bill to avoid abandoning important conservation, research and trade programs to the mercy of the appropriations process. He also called on lawmakers to preserve traditional rural-urban cooperation on nutrition issues.

“A farm bill without a meaningful nutrition title will make it difficult, if not impossible, for the House and Senate to reach agreement on a bill that can be signed by the President,” Baccus said. “Congress must pass a unified farm bill that continues the partnership between the nutrition and farm communities and their constituents.”