Kristi Noem Fails at Another Promise

Kristi has been busy posting about how the House's failure to take up the Senate funding bill and pass a continuing resolution is hurting America.  One more thing that she can also proudly point out is that she has failed to deliver on a Farm Bill on time.  Not only has the GOP created a mess by playing hostage with economy, (not my words but the words of our state's papers) they have failed on delivering a Farm Bill on time, again!  You remember that Farm Bill that Kristi promised she would get ugly with the leadership until the Farm Bill was passed.

One of the programs that is going to be damaged is the Rural Energy for America Program.

Last year’s farm bill expiration was unprecedented in U.S. farm policy history, but this year’s had been long expected as the House has proposed cuts to the bill’s food stamps program. The farm bill’s expiration, though, has been downplayed by senior agriculture leaders in Congress because funding and authorities for major commodity subsidies and food stamps will not begin to expire until the beginning of next year (E&E Daily, Sept. 20). 

But several of the bill’s smaller programs — such as those in the energy, conservation, organic and trade-promotion sections — are facing uncertainty at best and shutdowns at worst as of Monday’s expiration. For energy programs, it’s a question of funding. 

USDA operates seven energy programs, including one that provides loans to biorefinery producers to commercialize the next generations of fuels made from agricultural residues, perennial grasses, municipal solid waste and algae.

This is a program that has been used in South Dakota to some success.  I hope Kristi remembers that these are the people that she works for, like the people in Elkton

- The town of Elkton, South Dakota had been without a grocery store for several years until the owners of “Big Daddy’s Meats” decided to expand their small business to a full service store. With a REAP grant, they were able to realize their goal with the installation of a geothermal heat pump system that would save them enough money to make it possible.

Or Lake Andes

Pioneer Energy, LLC in Hesperus, Colorado, was selected to receive a $25,000 grant to help fund a feasibility study on building a 99 megawatt wind farm near Lake Andes, South Dakota. 

There will be a lot of other issues that will hurt our farmers thanks to Kristi's failure.  

Trade and export. Promotional export programs will also run out of funding, including dairy and specialty crop export programs. Export deals may be delayed or entirely sabotaged if the programs are defunct for too long. Vilsackwarned that Brazil trade relations, already delicate, will be impacted immediately.... 

Farmers and businesses, meanwhile, remain paralyzed by the uncertainty, unable to plan for the next season of planting until Congress passes a 5 year bill. As the National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition notes, many programs have been suspended since the 2008 Farm Bill expired in 2011, including aid for “beginning farmers, minority farmers, specialty crop farmers, organic farmers, value-added farm enterprises, rural small business, and renewable energy and energy conservation.”

Thanks Kristi for nothing, nothing at all.