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February 15, 2012 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson said the Farm Bill creates jobs, builds infrastructure and protects the quality of life in rural Nebraska, and the value of each program must be considered as budget cuts are implemented.
“We need to get our nation’s debt under control, and do so in a manner that continues the partnership with our rural communities and the safety net for producers,” Senator Nelson said today during his weekly conference call with members of the Nebraska news media.
Nelson pointed out that USDA Rural Development has invested nearly $2 billion in Nebraska since it became a separate agency in 1996. Last year alone, Nebraska communities, homeowners, and businesses benefited from $189 million in USDA Rural Development funds. He singled out projects to support Nebraska’s ethanol industry, improve the infrastructure for drinking water for a rural town and help a manufacturing company keep jobs in a rural community.
“Those dollars create jobs, build infrastructure and help to keep our rural communities as places where young people will stay and others will want to move. These programs have demonstrated their value. And even so, it will be difficult in our tight budget times to maintain them,” Nelson said.
Last year, production from the state’s 25 ethanol plants topped 1.9 billion gallons, according to the Nebraska Ethanol Board. Of that, 4 percent goes into Nebraska fuel tanks and, because of lower costs at the pump, saves motorists roughly $55 million every year.
Working to make this fuel source more readily available to Nebraska motorists, USDA Rural Development has supported the expansion of flexible fuel pumps in Nebraska. NCP Fuel Services will be able to construct a new facility in Cambridge. This will offer three pumps dispensing blends of biodiesel fuel and four pumps dispensing blends of ethanol fuel. Paxton Pit Stop will install one flexible fuel pump offering ethanol blends at an existing facility in Paxton.
"These programs go beyond the development of Nebraska’s renewable fuels industry. They help keep our communities livable and spur job creation,” Nelson said.
Through Rural Development Programs, Bayard received USDA financing of more than $4.8 million for a water improvement project that will serve the 1,247 rural residents. The improvements will bring the water system into compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act regulations.
In another case, last year, Thurston Manufacturing Company received two loans guaranteed by USDA Rural Development, from First National Bank of Omaha for $2,830,000. This loan helped keep a strong manufacturing base in a rural community in a county with nearly 9 percent unemployment – the highest in the state. It helped the company retain 97 jobs and create 16 jobs in a community of only 125 residents.
Turning to another function of the Farm Bill, Nelson said he hopes there will be broad agreement in Congress to develop a farm bill that relies on crop insurance as its base.
“Prices are up. But at the same time, I can’t imagine a riskier business. It only takes a few days of bad weather to cause hardship and loss. What I’ve heard loud and clear from Nebraskans is that there needs to be a safety net for times of losses. Crop insurance plays a key role when there’s a loss because of bad weather,” Nelson said. “The crop insurance program has proven to be successful and can serve as a key safety net for our producers who are at the whims of the ever-changing weather.”
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