Farm Bill - RaboBank Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. From tariffs to immigration reform to regulatory priorities, there’s a lot going on that’s impacting agriculture, but we’re not hearing much about a new Farm Bill lately.
RaboBank Global Stategist, Stephen Nicholson says yes, we need a new Farm Bill, but …
NICHOLSON … “I’ve also heard some discussion coming both out of Washington and other places about, we may have seen our last Farm Bill and that a Farm Bill may not ever get passed. And I wish I could tell you this has happened with other legislation that was multi-year, you know, passing was, I won’t say automatic, but has just fallen off the way and just gone away. I hope that’s not true, but it got me thinking.”
Nicholson says the spending part of the Farm Bill is probably the biggest reason they haven’t been able to come up with an updated version …
NICHOLSON … “And when you look at the Farm Bill, SNAP is certainly important because it’s the biggest money piece. But if you look from a farm perspective, you’ve got the safety net programs of ARC and PLC and crop insurance.”
But Nicholson says there’s much more to it than that …
NICHOLSON … “The Farm Bill is important for all of those things. It’s important for research. It’s important for agricultural research for the country and that goes across all kinds of plants and animals.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on the chances of not getting a new Farm Bill.
