releases: https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=B64E4C25-5F0B-4189-B897-76FB2D60D7A3
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=B64E4C25-5F0B-4189-B897-76FB2D60D7A3 | Heitkamp Helps U.S. Senate Pass Strong, Bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill; Legislation Includes Major Wins Heitkamp Fought for to Support North Dakotas Farm Economy | 2018-12-11 | 2018 | 2018-12 | Democrat | House | ND | Heidi Heitkamp | H001069 | www.heitkamp.senate.gov | legacy | Final Bill Includes Provisions Heitkamp Pushed for to Support Beginning Farmers & Ranchers, Boost Exports to Cuba, Remove Lifetime Easements, & Fix ARC-CO WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Farm Bill Conference Committee, today voted with a bipartisan majority to pass the final version of the 2018 Farm Bill out of the U.S. Senate. The legislation will now head to the U.S. House and will thenif passed proceed to the President's desk to be signed into law. As one of nine senators on the bipartisan Farm Bill Conference Committee, Heitkamp fought to include several provisions to support North Dakota farmers and ranchers. Among other wins, Heitkamp successfully worked to include her fix to the ARC-County program, her amendment to boost agricultural exports to Cuba, her provisions to help young and beginning farmers, and her priority to protect and expand crop insurance. The North Dakota agricultural economy is experiencing a moment of great uncertainty and one of my top priorities since arriving in the U.S. Senate has been to pass a robust Farm Bill that gives farm and ranch families the peace of mind they need during times like these, said Heitkamp. This final bill largely reflects the strongly bipartisan bill I helped craft and pass in the Senate earlier this year and it rejects many of the partisan provisions found in the House version of the bill. The legislation passed in the Senate today includes major victories I fought to include to strengthen support for North Dakota's crop and livestock producers, including fixes to ARC-County, expanded Tribal Promise Zones, the elimination of permanent easements, and trade promotion resources for U.S.-Cuba trade. Every day I wake up thinking about rural America, and this Farm Bill would give our rural communities additional opportunities for economic growth. Now, it's critical that the House votes to push this bill across the finish line before the close of this Congress. Earlier this year, Heitkamp helped secure Senate passage of a bipartisan Farm Bill, which passed by a historic margin of 86-11. The Senate Farm Billwas widely praised by North Dakota agriculture leaders. The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passeda partisan Farm Billalong party lines in June. Provisions Heitkamp successfully worked to include in the 2018 Farm Bill: Her bill to fix the ARC-County Program to help farmers when commodity prices fall to damaging levels. Heitkamp introduced her bipartisan billwith U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) in October 2017. It specifically responds to concerns from North Dakotans and would direct the Farm Service Agency to use the more widely-available data from the Risk Management Agency as the first choice in yield calculations so that county level data is more accurate and updated, calculate safety net payments so they reflect what's owed to producers in the physical counties where their farms are located, and make payments more accurate. The bill builds on Heitkamp's successful effort from 2015 when she got the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow farmers whose land is across multiple counties to have their ARC-CO payments recalculated so those payments reflect what's owed to them in the physical counties where their farms are located. Her Next Generation in Agriculture Act to provide funding and reform programs that help young and beginning farmers and ranchers enter and remain in the industry, build the next generation of farmers, and feed the country and the world.Heitkamp introduced her bipartisan billwith U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) earlier this year. It would provide permanent funding for beginning farmer and rancher training programs, create a permanent National Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coordinator and Agricultural Youth Coordinator at the USDA, direct state USDA offices to designate an employee as the state beginning farmer and rancher coordinator, and establish a next generation agriculture technology challenge competition. The average age of a farmer in North Dakota is 57 years old, according to USDA, and the percentage of new farmers has declined since 1982. Heitkamp's bill would help cultivate the next generation of farmers and support rural economies. Her priority to expand export opportunities for North Dakota agriculture producers.With 95 percent of the world's consumers living outside the U.S.,Heitkamp has been fighting to protect and expand export promotion programsto help North Dakota farmers sell to the world. She fought to make sure the Farm Bill would expand USDA programs to help farmers find new global markets for their goods. Her amendment to boost trade with Cuba.Heitkamp and Boozman successfully included their bipartisan amendmentto allow USDA to use its existing export market development programs to create, expand, and maintain a strong Cuban export market for U.S. agricultural producers and processors at no additional cost to U.S. taxpayers. This change in USDA policy would provide some needed relief from low American commodity prices by fostering a new, reliable trade relationship, boosting agricultural export revenue, and increasing export volume for American farmers and ranchers. This builds on Heitkamp's efforts to boost trade with Cuba going back to 2015, when she first introduced legislation to lift the ban on private banks and companies offering credit for agricultural exports to Cuba. Her efforts to support a foot and mouth disease vaccine bank.Heitkampfought to secure fundingin the Farm Bill for a new National Animal Disease Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Program, as well as National Animal and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank, with a priority put on foot-and-mouth disease. The threat of disease is a constant threat over a rancher's operations, and the need for a rapid response system is crucial for our food system to be able to address any outbreaks of disease such as foot and mouth. This vaccine bank will help protect North Dakota's livestock industry and our national food system. Her proposal to help farmers and ranchers in crisis.Heitkamp secured support for state departments of agriculture, state extension services, and non-profits to establish helplines, provide suicide prevention training for farm advocates, create support groups, and reestablish the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network. These provisions were included in thebipartisan FARMERS FIRST Act, which Heitkamp helped introduce in April to address the alarming rate of death by suicide among agricultural workers. Her reforms to make nutrition assistance more accessible in Indian Country.The Farm Bill includes a provision derived from Heitkamp'sTribal Food and Housing Security Actto help tribes like Spirit Lake provide nutrition assistance to low-income households and children who are at risk of going hungry. This provision waives most of the match requirement for administrative costs to run the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) programs, which many tribes use to provide healthy, affordable food options to low-income individuals and families. In Fiscal Year 2016, there were 5,661 participants receiving nutrition assistance from the FDPIR on North Dakota tribal lands. Her provision to provide greater certainty for the current Tribal Promise Zone designees, including the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe.Heitkamp successfully added this provision, which was part of the CROPS for Indian Country Act that she cosponsored, during markup to ensure that four Tribal Promise Zones continue to have access to resources and technical assistance from federal agency partners. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |