Farm Bill Frustration-SCFBA
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance is expressing their frustration over the inability of Congress to get a new Farm Bill done.SCFBA Co-Chair and CEO of the National Potato Council, Kam Quarles says Congress has a lot on their plate, but …
QUARLES … “A lot of eyes right now, Bob, on the Farm Bill, obviously making sure the government gets funded. We answered that on a short-term basis this week on funding the government.”
Quarles says a getting a new Farm Bill done is possible, but the clock is ticking …
QUARLES … “The Farm Bill still may be a glimmer of hope in a lame-duck session of Congress.”
Kicking the can down the road with another extension, Quarles says just isn’t the answer …
QUARLES … “As you and I have talked before, the thing that scares me is if we get into one of these cycles where you just do a series of short-term extensions on the Farm Bill, we could be sitting here a decade from now still using the tools of the 2018 Farm Bill.”
And that, Quarles says makes NO sense economically …
QUARLES … “Ten years from now, agriculture is changing so quickly, those tools will be out of date and our farmers will be in a much worse competitive position than they are already.”
SCFBA sent a letter last week to the chairs of the Congressional Specialty Crop Caucus.
SCFBA is a national coalition of more than 200 specialty crop organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants and other products.