No Farm Bill This Year
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Ag experts agree that a new farm bill is now unlikely until next year when the new Congress is in session.
Syngenta’s Mary Kay Thatcher says with so much to do any remaining chance for a farm bill this year is slim …
THATCHER … “We haven’t passed any of the 12 approps bills. You’ve got elections that are occurring, as far as leadership elections, and then you’re going to have people vying for committee chairman slots and committees. There’s just a lot to be done.”
Lawmakers must also complete the annual defense bill and more, all leading to continued uncertainty for producers.
John Newton, a former Chief Economist for Senate Ag Republicans and the American Farm Bureau, told USDA Radio …
NEWTON … “Right now, we’re operating in a world without a farm bill. The one-year extension we did expired at the end of September. So, it’s important to get that certainty for next spring for the crop producers looking at ARC and PLC and for the dairy farmers thinking about Dairy Margin Coverage. Is it going to be the status quo? Are we going to do an extension, or are we going to do the much-needed enhancements?”
One of Newton’s former bosses, Senate Ag member Chuck Grassley, predicts another extension …
GRASSLEY … “When Congress returns in 2025, Republicans will work quickly to debate and pass the next Five-year farm bill, hopefully, and I’m sure, under regular order, and in a bipartisan fashion.”
Bipartisanship is a must, given the 60-vote threshold needed to pass major bills in the Senate.
Democrats, thanks to retiring Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow, may have already thrown down a farm bill marker for next year, with Stabenow’s 11th-hour farm bill text.
