Farmers and Big Beautiful Bill
A recent visit with Idaho Senator Mike Crapo.
During Mr. Crapo’s visit, Samantha Parrott, executive director of the Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association said “So I want to talk about what this bill does specifically for the sugar beet industry. The first thing that it does is increase our loan rate up by 29% which is huge. So it went from $25.38 to $32.77 cents per pound and that gives farmers a more reliable floor in unpredictable markets,” said
Brock Obendorf, of Obendorf Farms offered his thoughts “The one big beautiful bill helps our industry move forward by the following; increasing funding for both the specialty crop research initiative and the specialty crop block grants. For example the SCR funding is boosted from 80 million to 175 million in fiscal year 2026,” said. “This means more research into the disease resistance and new varieties to meet brewers demands as we grow. The bill strengthens our ability to keep growing high quality hops, sustained rural economies and compete in global markets.”
“So I know these might sound like technical changes but for growers it means stability, and that stability helps them grow their operation, invest in equipment, hire workers and it keeps farms in the family for the next generation,” said Parrott.
