Hoosier farmers are watching what happens in Congress as one of the major pieces of unfinished business is approval of a new Farm Bill. Chuck Hassebrook  with the Center for Rural Affairs says it’s essential that the bill is passed – but even more important is that it maintains funding for programs important to rural America.  With Federal budget pressures, Hassebrook says he understands that there needs to be some belt-tightening. He thinks the best option would be to put a cap on the premium subsidies for crop insurance that mega-farms receive.  Hassebrook says with that billion dollars, half could be used for deficit reduction, and the rest to fund conservation and rural development programs – which he calls vital for the future prosperity of rural America.   The 2012 Farm Bill was passed by the U-S Senate this summer and has won approval by the U-S House Ag Committee, but it has not yet been scheduled for a vote in the full House.

      (  provied by:  http://www.cfra.org/ )

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