Leaders of the Senate Agriculture said Thursday there should no more cuts to farm bill programs

WASHINGTON (DTN) -- As they heard testimony from economists on the problems in farm country, leaders of the Senate Agriculture said Thursday there should no more cuts to farm bill programs.Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., made the statements two days after President Donald Trump's budget called for massive cuts in money and personnel over the next 10 years.At what he described as the first farm-bill hearing in Washington, Roberts acknowledged that the national debt is approaching $20 trillion, but he said that, between the savings from the last farm bill and a USDA crop insurance contract negotiation, "Everyone on this committee agrees that ag has already given at the store."Whoever negotiated the contract cut to crop insurance on top of the farm bill cut had "some relationship with Lizzie Borden," Roberts said, departing from his prepared remarks. "Farmers, ranchers, and rural families understand fiscal responsibility. But, now is not the time for additional cuts. We need to review what is working and what is not working.""We need to ensure that producers have risk management tools at their disposal. Let me emphasize that crop insurance is the most valuable tool in the risk management toolbox," Roberts said twice -- and then repeated the statement a third time