WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) applauded the passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill, in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Through his “Our Farm Bill” online listening campaign and tours of farms across the state, Murphy worked closely with Connecticut farmers and advocates to include their feedback in the final legislation. The Farm Bill includes Murphy’s bipartisan Century Farm Act that recognizes farms that have been in continuous operation for 100 or more years and proposals from Murphy’s Local Cheese Promotion and Dairy Support Act. The legislation also includes assistance to beginning farmers and dairy farmers, and expands opportunities for organic agriculture and shellfish farmers—all of which were advocated for by Murphy. The bill also rejects Republican attempts to slash food assistance programs, add dangerous work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, and gut conservation programs.

“This year, I launched my ‘Our Farm Bill’ listening campaign and traveled across the state visiting with farmers to make sure Connecticut farmers had a voice in this Farm Bill. I’m really grateful for every person in Connecticut who met with me, wrote to me, or called my office. This final bill includes their feedback,” said Murphy. “The Farm Bill makes big improvements to programs that help struggling dairy farmers, and that’s a big deal for our state. And the bill helps new, young farmers, who are driving the farming boom in Connecticut. We also successfully fought back against Republican attempts to gut food assistance so that families who rely on SNAP have access to more healthy food and won’t be going hungry this winter. There’s a lot more we need to do, like cut wasteful subsidies to big agri-businesses, but we avoided the most dangerous Republican proposals in this final bill.” 

Specifically, the Farm Bill includes the following provisions advocated for by Murphy: 

  • Murphy’s bipartisan Century Farm Act that recognizes farms that have been in continuous operation for 100 or more years
  • Proposals from Murphy’s Local Cheese Promotion and Dairy Support Act that increases the opportunities available to dairy farmers to process their milk into higher value products
  • Protections for the SNAP program, which helps put food on the table for over 437,000 individuals across Connecticut, and policy changes that help SNAP recipients access healthier food options
  • Improvements to dairy insurance programs and a new dairy donation program that will pay farmers to donate their extra milk
  • Support for socially disadvantaged, veteran, and new and beginning farmers by creating permanent mandatory baseline funding to help the next generation of farmers
  • Changes to crop insurance options for shellfish farmers that ensure shellfish farmers have access to cost-effective crop insurance
  • Permeant funding for value-added production and local food programs through the new Local Agriculture Market Program
  • Permanent funding for organic research and offers cost-share assistance to help farmers switch to organics
  • A reauthorization of the Acer Access and Development Program, which Murphy secured increased funding for in annual spending bills, to support the growth of the maple syrup producers

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