The House Agriculture Committee passed Farm Bill 2.0, and now it’s a question of when the full House of Representatives will take up the issue.
Rob Larew, President of the National Farmers Union, says that while he appreciates the work done on the skinny Farm Bill, and some programs are being reauthorized, there’s not a lot of money available for what farmers truly need.
He said, looking forward, a larger conversation about what a modern Farm Bill should look like needs to take place.
“Many of the safety net programs that we talk about in the Farm Bill were created back in 2012, and then put into a Farm Bill in 2014. The world is a really different place for agriculture today, and so I think that what we want our elected leaders to do is actually look at today’s needs, listen to family farmers and ranchers, and create a farm bill that truly addresses the needs and meets the moment.”
When it comes to the idea of separating the Farm Bill and keeping Ag issues and food assistance needs separate, Larew says that would only hurt the agriculture community.
There are too few members of Congress who actually come from farming and agricultural districts. And so, that’s the reason why we’ve had, for several decades now, this grand coalition of folks who care about conservation, who care about feeding the hungry, who care about making sure that our rural communities are strong, and so, we’re worried that this coalition is certainly fractured at this point, but I don’t see how the needs of family farmers and ranchers can get met when the votes just aren’t there”
Larew added that as rural representation is lost over time, the need for that coalition is going to be even more important, and he’s hopeful that the coalition can come back and address the future of the Farm Bill.