WASHINGTON (Sept. 11, 2013) — U.S. Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Tom Petri, R-Wis., will join representatives from R Street and groups from across the ideological divide for a Sept. 12 press conference on handouts to big agribusiness in the proposed 2013 Farm Bill.

The congressmen also will deliver 250,000 petitions from the public and letters from more than 1,000 small farmers asking that Congress stop corporate welfare giveaways to the wealthiest agricultural producers. While the federal government subsidizes roughly 62 percent of farmers’ crop insurance premiums, at a cost of $9 billion annually, small farmers receive only about 27 percent of the subsidies. 

Earlier this year, Reps. Kind and Petri introduced the Assisting Family Farmers through Insurance Reform Measures (AFFIRM) Act. Among other provisions, the bill would cap crop insurance premium subsidies to $40,000 per year and eliminate subsidies for producers with adjusted gross income of more than $250,000.

Who: Rep. Ron Kind

Rep. Tom Petri

Lori Sanders, R Street Institute

Dan Smith, U.S. Public Interest Research Group

Pete Sepp, National Taxpayers Union

Josh Sewell, Taxpayers for Common Sense

Scott Faber, Environmental Working Group

Sophia Maravell, Brickyard Educational Farm in Potomac, Md.

When: Thursday, Sept. 12, 11 a.m. ET

Where: Rayburn House Office Building

Room 2168 (Gold Room)

Featured Publications