WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins today voted against proceeding to the Farm Bill and released this statement:
"While this bill does contain some provisions that I support, including funding for agricultural research, and conservation and forestry programs, I am deeply disappointed that the final version falls far short of providing desperately needed support for Maine's small dairy farmers. Once one of Maine's most important agricultural industries, just 287 dairy farms remain in our state today, and they are threatened because of the way the Department of Agriculture sets dairy prices. I authored a provision that was supported by Maine's dairy farmers and originally included in the Senate-passed Farm Bill last year that would reform this process. Unfortunately, this provision was not included in the final bill.
"In addition, this bill does not do enough to cut massive, wasteful taxpayer subsidies for large agri-businesses in South and West that come at the expense of small, family farms in the Northeast. While family farmers struggle to make ends meet, this bill leaves in place loopholes that allow multi-millionaire agri-businesses to receive subsidies at taxpayer expense.
"After supporting Senate-passage last year of a Farm Bill that addressed the dairy crisis and had many real reforms, I'm disappointed that I cannot support this final version."
"I share Senator Collins' concerns that the House and Senate conferees rolled back some important reforms that were included in the original Senate bill. Entitlement and natural resource programs that are widely used in Maine were curtailed, while at the same time, subsidies to millionaire farmers, particularly in the southern and western regions of the country, were not," said Walt Whitcomb, Commissioner of Maine's Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. "It's equally disappointing that House and Senate conferees did not accept the provision that Senator Collins authored that would have begun a process for examining the flawed federal milk pricing system, which is extremely important for all Maine dairy farmers."