Behind the Scenes Work Being Done on A New Farm Bill

As the National Farmers Union gears up for their annual convention March 10th through the 12th. In Scottsdale, Arizona, Executive Director Rob Larew, says that the farm bill will be among the main topics for attendees. He points out that work is being done behind the scenes.

“A lot of the pieces that are going to be required to put a farm bill together are probably already in place. The big topline debates about how much money is going to be in certain programs or, you know, whether or not there's going to be reform in other areas or whether we're gonna see this priority tech president. Those are discussions that are going to require, I think, the highest level of leadership in both the House and the Senate. And if anybody's watching the news today, you know that there's a lot of lack of leadership, I would argue, at the highest levels of those institutions. They can't even seem to get across things that they support.”

What does this mean for the Farm Bill?

“Certainly, it's frustrating for a lot of us out there, but we've got to just keep our head down, keep pressing because when that opportunity presents itself, the committees need to be ready to move. The farm groups need to be ready to move.”

Larew says although there are questions about who will control Congress, whether it be Democrats or Republicans, and it being a presidential election, it's also a good time to drive the message home of why the farm bill is so important to the country.