Texas Cotton Farmers Leading The Charge For More Government Insurance To Cover Climate, Inflation Challenges

LUBBOCK — On the eve of another drought-ridden growing season, farmers from the High Plains are asking state and national lawmakers to provide a stronger financial safety net.

In Austin and Washington, D.C., farmers from the 41-county High Plains region, which includes Lubbock, are telling representatives that extreme weather and unpredictable markets are straining their businesses. The producers hope the Texas Legislature will tap into funds from the American Rescue Plan Act for a one-time grant by the time lawmakers end their legislative session later this month and that Congress will improve disaster assistance in must-pass legislation known as the Farm Bill.

Farmers around the country are facing growing challenges to their livelihoods, particularly in the face of climate-related disasters. In the Texas High Plains, last year’s drought cost cotton producers more than $2 billion. As farmers are seeing less money in their wallets, inflation is driving up the costs of supplies such as fertilizer, equipment and seeds.

Cotton is an illustrious giant in the Texas agriculture world — 56% of the country’s cotton acres are planted in the Lone Star State, and the High Plains region alone produces 30% of the nation’s cotton and cottonseed. However, the unending financial challenges are beginning to make producers wonder how they can keep growing it.

“Additional funding is necessary to address challenges, both on the farm and throughout the supply chain,” said Holladay, who is chair of the National Cotton Council.

The Farm Bill is an enormous legislative package that sets the policies for agricultural and food programs, such as federal crop insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps or SNAP. The Farm Bill is typically renewed every five years, and the 2018 bill cost $428 billion since then. This year’s bill could be the first trillion-dollar farm bill in history. Total spending is projected at $1.51 trillion, with SNAP getting more than 81%, the biggest piece of the pie.

Agriculture advocates hope to see improvements to ad hoc disaster assistance, a program started as a way to lessen the blow when farms have devastating years. Ad hoc assistance is not a permanent program. Congress has to approve of the use of funds and has approved more than $15 billion since 2018. Farmers have to apply for it every time a disaster occurs and are not guaranteed approval when they need assistance or for the amount they need.

David Gibson, chair of the Texas Agriculture Council, grows corn in Lubbock. The crop was yet another that suffered last year statewide — corn production was at its lowest since 2011.

Gibson said another issue is that the ad hoc assistance is available only after farms have been dealt critical blows. After three years of rising supply costs, unstable markets and weather disasters on the farm, it’s now more realistic to assume the assistance will be needed and make it available on a permanent basis, instead of taking a wait-and-see approach.

“There’s not a real provision in the Farm Bill, as of today, to keep growers in business,” said Gibson, who is also executive director of Texas Corn Producers. “Not make money, but just keep them in business.”