The American Farm Bureau Federation, along with more than 250 other food and farming groups, is urging federal appropriators to spare the sector from cuts in the fiscal 2017 budget. | Getty Farm Bureau urges appropriators to spare ag programs

The American Farm Bureau Federation, along with more than 250 other food and farming groups, is urging federal appropriators to spare the sector from cuts in the fiscal 2017 budget, arguing that agriculture has already taken more than its fair share of spending reductions.

In a letter to lawmakers Wednesday, the groups point to savings in the 2014 farm bill that are expected to cut an estimated $16 billion from the federal debt over 10 years — enough to warrant excluding agriculture programs from further cuts, they wrote.


The groups urged lawmakers to refrain from using reconciliation instructions to require the House and Senate Agriculture committees to bring farm bill programs in line with possible savings in conjunction with any upcoming budget resolution.

"These committees have already done the hard work to make the difficult choices necessary to deliver bipartisan cuts, which the farm and food community have accepted in securing agriculture’s contribution to the goal of federal deficit reduction," the groups wrote.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, lauded the calls from the agriculture groups.

“It’s important that we keep the Farm Bill intact through the budget and appropriations process to provide the full five-year certainty promised in that bipartisan bill,” the Michigan Democrat said in a statement.



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