Farm Bill Urgency
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. An air of desperation has set in among hundreds of farm, food, conservation, and environmental groups over the lack of a new, modernized farm bill.
The groups are now sounding the alarm as the one-year extension of the old law has almost expired …
GILSON … “This is the last big push from groups across town and around the country to get a farm bill done.”
American Farm Bureau’s Director of Government Affairs Joe Gilson says more than 500 farm-related groups have written congressional leaders to say they can wait NO LONGER …
GILSON … “It’s become a really big problem for farmers and ranchers, and we’re starting to hear about it, like ‘what are you guys doing to just get me through this year?’”
For farmers, Gilson says, the writing is on the wall …
GILSON … “Corn’s down 30 percent year over year, soybeans are down 25 percent year over year, and then you have higher inflation for those crop inputs. This past year’s crop was the most costly crop to put in the ground, ever.”
Gilson echoed AFB President Zippy Duvall, saying that getting 500-plus groups on the same page shows the “urgency of passing a new farm bill, but waiting ‘til after the election will just cause more delay …
GILSON … “Seating the Congress, you have committee assignments, you have new nominees, potentially, if there’s a change in administration.”
American Farm Bureau’s Joe Gilson.
