Farm BIll - Newhouse Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. Getting a new Farm Bill done is never easy, but this time around seems to be more difficult than usual with a challenging budget getting a lot of pushback.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is one of the big reasons …
NEWHOUSE … “It’s a high percentage of the Farm Bill that goes to food programs. And so, yes, it’s a big part of it. Some people have advocated for separating the nutrition part of the Farm Bill out from the agricultural industry issues in the Farm Bill.”
But that, Newhouse says would not be easy, or practical …
NEWHOUSE … “From what I can tell, that probably would not be a good idea. It removes the incentive for both sides to come together and compromise into a final package. But it certainly does not make it easy. And like I said, we will continue working on it to get it done. It’s vital.”
And the old Farm Bill, Newhouse says isn’t cutting it …
NEWHOUSE … “We’re truthfully, even though the last Farm Bill was passed in 2018, we’re working off of numbers probably from more like 2017. And, you know, that’s eight years ago and certainly the challenges today have evolved, and we need to have an up-to-date, modern Farm Bill that addresses those challenges that farmers face.”
Newhouse says the Farm Bill will likely have to wait until
their budget reconciliation gets completed.
