WASHINGTON – More than 150 Alabama farmers descended recently on Capitol Hill to share their perspectives on two hot-button agricultural topics: a farm bill and tariffs.
Stan Usery, a row cropper and poultry farmer from Elkmont, was one of the farmers on the trip with the Alabama Farmers Federation last week. He said the agricultural industry is struggling and needs Congress to pass a new and substantial Farm Bill.
“There’s a lot of pain on the farm, coupled with some drought over the state of Alabama, low prices and low yields have put a lot of Alabama row crop farmers in precarious situations,” Usery told Alabama Daily News.
A cattle and catfish farmer from Sumter County, Denzil Dees, also feels that pain. He serves as the Alabama Farmers Federation State Young Farmers Committee chairman.
“Input costs are up, just like for everything, but that has made our net farm income go down,” Dees told ADN.
Congress extended the 2018 Farm Bill in December under the American Relief Act of 2025. It provided nearly $31 billion in agricultural aid, including $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers. The bill runs through the end of September. The Farm Bill has been extended twice for one-year terms, leaving farmers without a significantly updated piece of legislation that’s aimed at supporting the agricultural industry’s current needs. A farm bill typically lasts five years.
“We need a good farm bill that’ll address the needs not only today, but three, four, five years in the future, because we know we’re going to have to live with this thing at least, probably four or five years or potentially longer,” Usery said.
One of those needs Usery wants addressed in a new bill is increased reference prices, which trigger government payments that help farmers offset losses when the market price falls below that level.
“Our reference prices in the current Farm Bill do not reflect the current economic situation, then a lot of inflation, and it’s just not current with what farmers are facing today, and we’re hoping that we can get a bipartisan push to get this thing through,” Usery said.
Usery also said financial assistance for farmers impacted by natural disasters should be included in a new bill. The bill’s extension that passed last year included nearly $21 billion in aid to support farms affected by disasters.
“Part of that is to shore up in areas that have disasters, that are acts of God, that are beyond their control so we need to keep our farmers… because if they go out of business and they’re gone, then we’re not going to get that infrastructure back,” Usery said.
Alabama’s delegation has signaled their support for a new Farm Bill, but Congress hasn’t taken any significant steps yet this year as lawmakers first work to pass a budget and fund the government.
Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, said Congress needs to be serious about prioritizing a Farm Bill.
“The Farm Bill provides significant stability for a lot of communities, for farmers, for the farm industry as a whole, and they need to be able to plan,” Figures told ADN. “They need to be able to know what type of resources are going to be there for them, what type of credit access and protection for them is going to be there.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., reiterated that need during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing last month, where an Alabama peanut farmer shared his views on what should be included in the legislation.
“Our farmers need a new Farm Bill with a strong and reliable farm safety net to support producers amidst fluctuating market conditions, natural disasters, and skyrocketing production costs,” Tuberville said. “The $10 billion in economic assistance Congress passed in December was a crucial lifeline to keep some producers afloat – and we need to ensure it is implemented quickly.”
Tariffs
President Donald Trump’s tariffs, some of which are now paused, on Mexican, Canadian and Chinese goods were also a key talking point during the farmers’ visit on Capitol Hill. Trump once again paused a 25% tariff on some goods from Mexico and Canada that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement over fears of a trade war. The pause is set to end April 2. China’s tariffs remain in place and Trump doubled the tariff on Chinese imported goods to 20%. China retaliated and instituted up to 15% tariffs on U.S. farm products.
Dees said tariffs could do some good for his farm. More than 80% of catfish imported to the United States comes from China and Vietnam, according to the Catfish Institute.
“And in the catfish world, we’re truly struggling right now as an industry, foreign fish are hurting us,” Dees said.
“I really think some tariffs on foreign fish could help us tremendously at moving more of our product here in the country, but it’s been a struggle for a few years now for us.”
Usery admitted he was nervous about the tariffs as he exports a lot of soybeans but said he hoped the pain would be short term as Trump uses the tariffs as a negotiating tool.
Recruiting young farmers
As the young farmers chair, Dees said he also told lawmakers about the lack of new farmers entering the industry. He pointed to the difficulty of making a profit and the inheritance tax as obstacles to recruiting the next generation.
“We’re not getting any young farmers across the whole country, and that’s scary,” Dees said. “If you think about where your food’s coming from, and we’re not recruiting any young people into this industry, and so we’ve got to do something.”
Usery echoed that sentiment.
“We’ve just got to make the industry more lucrative in the transition from one generation to the next, and easier and more financially possible,” Usery said.
As the farmers head back to Alabama, Dees and Usery said their conversations with elected officials will continue so that the farmers’ priorities remain at the forefront.