Farmers and ranchers need the certainty of a farm bill, but Congress has yet to reach an agreement. And the current farm bill just expired. But Andrew Walmsley, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Congressional Relations director, says lawmakers are making progress toward finishing the farm bill this year.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal that we blew past the Sept. 30 deadline without having a new farm bill, but it isn’t necessarily the end of the world,” Walmsley told AFBF’s Newsline. “The good news is that I think a lot of progress has been made on hopefully getting the 2018 Farm Bill done in the upcoming weeks.”
Walmsley noted the farm bill needs to be finished by the end of the year before farmers feel any impacts.
“Commodity programs, at least through the marketing year, will continue on. Crop insurance is permanently authorized. Nutrition programs will continue to go forward. It’s not really until we get to Jan. 1 where we could start seeing impacts to dairy,” Walmsley said. “So, there’s a lot of work by staff and by the four principals to try to get a farm bill done, at least in agreement and going through the paperwork in the next few weeks, so we can quickly get it back through both chambers of Congress after the midterms.”
Farmers and ranchers can help by talking with lawmakers about the need to finish the farm bill, he said.
“I know it’s harvest, but if they get an opportunity to see a member of Congress or attend a campaign event, they need to asking the question, ‘What are you doing to help get a farm bill done?’ We need to get a bill done and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t here in the next few weeks,” Walmsley said.