Cattlemen Talk Farm Bill Priorities
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
The 2023 Farm Bill was a hot topic at the recent Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting held by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane says it is highly likely that there will be an extension for the 2023 Farm Bill.
Lane… “Given that appropriations is still very much front burner, they have a lot of work there that has to get done by September 30 to avoid a government shutdown, It sounds like there's a move afoot to give a little breathing room in there so that they're not trying to have this Farm Bill conversation at the same time. Listening to what Chairman Thompson has said and Chairwoman Stabenow in the past few weeks, They've been reminding folks that we've never done a farm bill right on time, there's always a little bit of breathing room, there's a lot of moving parts, and this year is not going to be any different in that regard.”
Farm Bill priorities for the cattle industry begin with funding for the vaccine bank to ensure the resources are available to protect against an outbreak.
Lane… “We want to keep the ball moving forward on that front, and we want to make sure that those voluntary conservation programs that our producers use so heavily to ensure that we continue to be the highest quality beef in the world here in the U.S. with the lowest environmental footprint, we need to make sure that funding stays in place. And we want to make sure this is a healthy, robust farm bill that has the resources needed for all the work that USDA does without adding extra stuff the USDA doesn’t need to be doing.”
Lane made his comments during the Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting in San Diego last month.
