Trump Budget Proposal Considered “DOA”

Presidential budget proposals have been dead on arrival before. However, the Hagstrom Report says no budget outline has been as dead as the one President Trump sent to members of Congress on Monday. No one in the entire American food chain seems happy with what they’ve seen. Everyone, from members of Congress to farm leaders, crop insurance executives, as well as anti-hunger activists and grocery store lobbyists, are denouncing the plan. Trump’s plan calls for cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and making a food package part of the benefits. The budget also proposes eliminating premium subsidies, commodity payments, and conservation program eligibility for farmers with Adjusted Gross Incomes of more than $500,000. It also proposes many other changes designed to reduce payments to farmers. The budget also proposes establishing user fees for many of the programs within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The proposal says it would save $260 billion over ten years, including $213 billion of those savings from SNAP. Farm program cuts would total $47 billion over ten years, including $25 billion from crop insurance and $13 billion from streamlining conservation payments. Feeding Minds Press Focuses on Accurate Ag Books for Children Feeding Minds Press is a new chidren’s book venture from the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. The goal is to bring children accurate knowledge about how their food is grown. The new publisher’s first book will be titled “Right This Very Minute,” and is scheduled for release in January of 2019, just in time for the American Farm Bureau’s annual convention. The foundation’s announcement says “Right This Very Minute” is the perfect book to launch this exciting new project. They call it a great story and it tells kids that every minute of every day, someone, somewhere, is working to bring the food to their table. Julia Recko, director of education outreach with the Farm Bureau Foundation, says they’ve been working every year to find books that support their mission, but it’s really no longer an option. “It’s become more and more difficult to discover books that meet our specific needs,” she says. “We feel this is the next logical step in educational outreach.” Feeding Minds Press intends to regularly publish new books that show how farmers are using technology to better grow crops and livestock. They plan to also accept submissions for new books that bring modern agriculture to life.