The top Republican on the Senate Ag Committee, John Boozman, says he doesn’t know whether the extra money Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow has identified for the next farm bill will be enough to bolster commodity programs and crop insurance. Stabenow reportedly told Agri-Pulse she expects to have $4 billion to $5 billion in additional funding for the bill. She didn’t identify the source of the money, and Boozman said he doesn’t know where the funding comes from.
Boozman and his House Ag counterparts continue to wait on cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office on possible program modifications. And Boozman still has fundamental differences with Stabenow over what to do about the main commodity programs.