The Hill News

Today is National Agriculture Day. Today is a day to recognize all that America’s farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses do, a day to celebrate the abundance provided by our agricultural entrepreneurs.

As businessman-farmers ourselves, we know firsthand the challenges our producers face each and every day. We also know that the national debt crisis endangers the prosperity of everyone across the United States, and that wasteful farm program spending has been a real contributor over the decades. That’s why we introduced the Rural Economic Farm and Ranch Sustainability and Hunger (REFRESH) Act in October â€" a deficit-reduction bill that cuts an estimated $40 billion over 10 years, ends policies that work against market forces and offers viable insurance options for farmers.

As both chambers of Congress grasp for solutions to our mounting federal deficit and a farm bill that expires in a few short months, our bill remains the only comprehensive piece! of agriculture legislation that can claim this level of savings, combined with fundamental policy reforms.

Previous op-eds by us this week here on the Congress Blog have outlined some of the farm policy improvements made in our bill: we propose energy programs to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil while also creating jobs across rural America; we call for conservation reforms th! at would free up land for farmers to grow more food while ensu! ring tha t important conservation programs are fiscally sustainable; and we offer commonsense reforms in the farm bill’s huge nutrition title that would reduce waste in food programs and close loopholes, saving $14 billion over the next 10 years while still allowing us to meet the needs of the hungry and fulfill our budgetary obligations.

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