Lame Duck Farm Bill Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. If you listen to those in Congress and the Ag Industry recently, the chances of getting a new Farm Bill done in this Lame Duck session are fading.
Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta’s Senior Manager of Federal Government and Industry Relations, says reasons for hope of a new Farm Bill are few …
THATCHER … “The thing that worries me most, I would say, is that, you know, GT Thompson, chair of the House Ag Committee, he found, for lack of a better term, some savings that could be used in the Farm Bill by limiting what Secretary Vilsack could do out of the Commodity Credit Corporation, and he also found money by saying, I’m going to take the guardrails off of the Conservation Program for climate change.”
But Thatcher says with money so tight …
THATCHER … “Well now, other members of Congress have seen that “found money.” So, if all of the sudden they take it and they’re able to use it for something else, like the reconciliation package, then it’s going to be even harder to pass a Farm Bill that has an adequate safety net because, all of the sudden, that “found money” has to come from somewhere else.”
And that, Thatcher says doesn’t really get things moving …
THATCHER … “We already have to find $33 million plus maybe even more, so it’s difficult.”
Thatcher believes that with so many urgent needs currently on their plate, Congress is unlikely to find time to get the Farm Bill done before Christmas.
