From The Ground Up: ‘Safety Net’ programs provide security for agriculture finances
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Whether there’s floods, droughts or other unforeseen events, farmers still have to find a way to produce their crops. But sometimes the necessary financial decisions farmers and ranchers have to make are risky ones.
That’s where government like the “Safety Net” come in. They provide security to farmers and ranchers if there crops don’t turn out as planned. Joe Outlaw, a professor and extension economist, is working with lawmakers to find more ways to help farmers and ranchers when times get tough.
“Pretty much everyone in agriculture is financed, they’re not self-sufficient to finance their own operations,” said Outlaw. “They’re having to go in and present a bank loan and say ‘this is what I’m going to do this is how I want to pay you back.’”
Outlaw hopes when he speaks with Congress next he can convince them to put more funds into agriculture.
“The most interesting part of my job is speaking to people that do not come from an ag background that say we could use this money for something else. And the reality is, and I have to make a point people are going to eat, they have to eat. Do we want them to have a safe, abundant and secure supply in the United States, or do we want to be dependent upon other countries?”
Lawmakers are continuing to work on the new safety net and the 2023 farm bill.
