8-28 IAT Crapo and Farm Bill

 I caught up with Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo and asked him to reflect on agriculture and Washington DC. “ It is extremely frustrating in Washington DC to see agriculture policy made by a Congress influenced by an administration of whom there are very few who have an actual understanding of how an agriculture in economy works. As you just pointed out  with regard to the farm bill was not with regard to that title in the farm bill that dealt with agricultural commodities and agricultural policy. In fact, that part of the farm bill which held major reforms, was agreed to and was a very positive part of the bill. Unfortunately, it was only 10 to 15% of the spending in the bill. The vast majority of the rest of the bill was in the food nutrition programs. Many of us have said that as we try and deal with the national debt, all parts of the budget have to take their fair share. That does not mean they have to be dealt with pro rata. Some can get prioritized and others could get totally eliminated but we have to have every program participate and there was not a willingness to have the food and nutrition programs participate in meaningful budget reductions along with the commodity programs which led the way in the United States in participating in finding savings. It was that battle that caused both Sen. Risch and I to say no. If we are not going to allow this major part of government spending to be a part of the ultimate solution, then we can’t start that precedent.”