Yesterday (12 February), The White House released the proposed fiscal year (FY) budget for 2019, much to the dismay of the NFU.

Over the next decade, the $4.4 trillion budget would severely cut many programmes that family farmers and ranchers and rural Americans rely on, including $48.6 billion from Farm Bill programmes, $3.7 billion from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), $213 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Programme (SNAP), $554 billion from Medicare, and $250 billion from Medicaid. These proposed cuts come on the heels of a massive tax cut for corporations and wealthy Americans as well as the fifth straight year of projected declines in net farm income.

National Farmers Union President, Roger Johnson, released the following statement in response to the budget:

To say that this budget is disappointing is an understatement. This administration has consistently demonstrated a lack of support for the most vulnerable populations, and this plan is just more of the same. It is frankly disgusting that the government has offered corporations and the wealthiest among us a $1.5 trillion gift in the form of tax cuts while proposing deep cuts to programmes so important for low- and middle-class Americans.

At the same time, this policy fails to step up for family farmers and ranchers, who are expected to endure yet another year of declining farm income. As the farm economy continues to falter, this is the time for the government to step in and boost rural America up, not yank the rug out from underneath them.

More than anything, the budget proposal reflects a clear misalignment of the government’s priorities compared to the actual needs of the American public. It’s a harmful and short-sighted plan that should be quickly rejected by Congress. Farmers Union urges Congress to recognise the needs of family farmers and ranchers and rural communities by strengthening the farm and social safety net.

As reported by NFU