House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson is ready to move another extension of the 2018 farm bill, acknowledging to reporters that lawmakers are unlikely to consider the measure in the lame duck session. “We’re prepared for an extension,” Thompson said.
The 2018 farm bill extension expired on Monday, September 30. Here is what the Farm Bureau is saying about impacts on farmers.
Lawmakers return to D.C. next week for a possible battle over keeping the government funded when the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1. And they also may take up another extension for the 2018 farm bill.
Zippy Duval, President of the American Farm Bureau continues to push for farm bill action. Below is a recent statement he made urging Congress to act this year.
Democratic VP Candidate Tim Walz as an elected House member represented a Minnesota farm community during his five terms in Congress. Here’s a 2016 Agri-Pulse interview with then Rep. Walz talking about the previous farm bill.
Senate Ag Committee member Tina Smith (D-MN) isn’t giving up getting a farm bill done by the end of the year. Speaking at Minnesota Farmfest on Wednesday, she said she’s not ready to talk about extending the 2018 farm bill into 2025.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, says Congress is going to have to pass another stopgap spending bill in September to keep the government funded into fiscal 2025, and she won’t be surprised if it includes a farm bill extension. Interviewed for this week’s Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, the House Ag Committee member says she doesn’t know how long the extension would run.
Yesterday the House Agriculture Committee began consideration of its proposed 5 year reauthorization of the farm bill. The bill faces a September deadline for consideration and has a long way to go for approval in a difficult political environment. Here is what leaders of some of the major ag organizations are saying about the House Committee proposal.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sharply criticized House Republicans’ proposed farm bill on Wednesday, saying they are relying on “budget gimmicks” to fund legislation that overpromises and won't deliver for producers.