Cantwell on Farm Bill Part 3

Cantwell on Farm Bill Part 3. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and ask her some key questions about the Senate farm bill and her thoughts on the recent House bill and while she was pleased with Senate’s version there had been some key things she would have liked to see. It is yet to be seen how soon the House will get to their bill. There was talk of a markup happening today but we will have to wait and see. Farmers and ranchers need a good strong farm bill with a safety net especially in light of the many crops that are being destroyed by the high heat across the country. Cantwell is very supportive of the MAP or Market Access Program and she says that research must be allowed to continue. The big question in the room for a lot of people is...will there be a farm bill completed this year and what will it look like.

CANTWELL: One of our participants up in Spokane said - he said it - you know we’ve done all these things for Wall Street, how about if you want a real stimulus for the U.S. economy...get the ag bill done. And I thought that was very appropriate. I think it employs so many people across America and people want this kind of certainty and predictability, if you think about all of these developing markets around the globe and yes they’ve been slowed down too because of this economic downturn but we still have real growth in the number of consumption around the globe. Well why not get more products?

She says the United States knows how to grow food.

CANTWELL: And we know how to export and these economies around the globe are new markets for us and when you export it means jobs. And so I think it is a really, really positive job stimulus bill and we should get it done this year. We should get it done before the August recess in my opinion.

Of course it will take some time. First the House needs to sign off on their version before the task of trying to meld the two versions together. What will be in it is any ones guess but one thing is certain...for U.S. agriculture to continue to effectively and efficiently produce the food that feeds the world, a good bill needs to be created and ratified. Time will tell.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.