NCC unhappy over absence of cotton policy in bill

05 May '17

2 min read

National Cotton Council is disappointed over non-inclusion of the cottonseed policy developed by the US cotton industry in consultation with Congress, in the fiscal year 2017 omnibus appropriations bill. The policy, broadly supported by the entire US cotton industry and many other farm bill stakeholders, is designed to help development of the 2018 farm bill.

National Cotton Council (NCC) chairman Ronnie Lee stated that the cottonseed policy is also budget neutral with the costs offset only by cotton-related provisions and is vetted and supported by a broad, bipartisan group in Congress.

"The Senators' desire to help dairy producers somehow became a pre-requisite for whether Congress could provide a policy to cotton producers to help respond to the ongoing financial and trade policy challenges," Lee said.

"There was no rationale or justification for linking support between cotton and dairy producers. These actions not only have left cotton producers with no near-term options to help them deal with long-running economic issues, but have harmed the prospects for developing a new farm bill. Without the cottonseed policy in place, the result is that all farm bill stakeholders will be seeking support from an expected smaller overall budget available for the next farm bill," Lee said.

"The NCC will now shift its focus to working with Secretary Perdue to determine what administrative options USDA has to help cotton producers. Our industry will remain optimistic that the economic well-being of farm families and our rural communities will ultimately prevail over Congressional politics," Lee said.

The cottonseed policy was developed by all of the cotton industry's segments and production regions over the course of the past two years. A letter from 58 cotton organisations was recently sent to Appropriations Committee leaders outlining this policy and the immediate need for it. (SV)

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