Farmers from the Pee Dee met Wednesday to talk about their futures and to be heard.
The Clemson Pee Dee Research and Education Center hosted a forum Wednesday to discuss the 2012 Farm Bill.
U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., held the forum to meet, talk to and get input as to how the farm bill will affect local farmers and agriculture in the Pee Dee.
The bill covers a wide range of support for farmers of all types but isn’t limited to just farming.
The support includes support for horticulture, conservation, nutrition, trade and food aid, energy, rural development and farm credit.
“(The bill is) a constellation of different programs, and it’s something over the years that has given us the best agriculture in the world,” Spratt said.
Peterson said he’s been traveling the country getting input about the bill and said that one of the biggest challenges with the farm bill is the budget.
For the 2012 Farm Bill, Peterson is proposing that it operate with the same budget as the 2008 bill.
“We’re intending to stay within our budget (for the 2012 Farm Bill). We’ve actually already reduced the deficit by making a change in our insurance program,” Peterson said.
Questions about insurance of one kind or another pertaining to farming was asked by several attendees of the forum.
W.D. Harrington of Manning is a lifelong farmer that took over his father’s farm when he was 18 years old.
Harrington said he would like to see federal crop insurance given attention more than anything.
“Farmers have so much invested and without some insurance to help them out, one bad year could put them out of business. I tell you, I like to eat and I think the world has to eat to survive. We don’t need to be losing farmers. We don’t have that many left anyway,” Harrington said.
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