Following the release of President Obama’s proposed FY2016 budget on Monday, ASA drew attention to multiple areas in which the association saw potential dangers and opportunities in the proposal.

Atop the list of ASA’s concerns is language in the proposed budget that would make disabling cuts to crop insurance programs authorized in the 2014 farm bill. Specifically, the President’s budget requests $16 million in cuts to the farm program over 10 years, the bulk of which would come from reductions in the portion of crop insurance premiums subsidized by the federal government.

“Crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm safety net,” said ASA President Wade Cowan. “Farmers spend approximately $4 billion a year of their own money to purchase insurance from the private sector, which is far more efficient and effective than government-run delivery systems. Attacking farmers’ most important risk management tool only weakens the bipartisan farm bill that Congress carefully crafted after years of deliberation and more than 40 hearings.”

ASA is concerned with specific elements of the president’s proposed tax policy, namely a plan to increase taxes on inherited property and assets through elimination of stepped-up basis. The proposal has very little chance of being enacted by Congress, and the impact would occur only if an heir sells an inherited farm or asset, ASA is still concerned that the President would propose this tax change that would adversely impact farm families and their rural communities.

ASA did call attention to several aspects of the proposed budget that soybean farmers support, including the proposal’s full funding of the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program, which the industry uses to help access new and growing export markets. Also, the association noted its support for the president’s proposed $478 billion spending on highway infrastructure and projects to improve freight rail corridors.

We’re encouraged to see a commitment to expanding our reach to new and existing trade partners, and some increased investment for domestic infrastructure that help us to get American soybeans to our customers faster and more economically than our foreign competitors. At the same time, we are disappointed that the President’s budget again called for decreased funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for maintenance and upgrades to our inland waterways and ports. These are vital to the competitiveness of soybean exports and are in as much or more need for investment and upgrade as our highways.