Work on the 2018 farm bill is already some three-months late, and with other pressing Congressional business, likely to get even later, according to farm lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
Farm bill work was sidelined last year by the GOP tax bill. Now, keeping the government funded, healthcare, immigration and security issues are immediate concerns for Congress.
American Farm Bureau Federation public policy executive director Dale Moore is confident a new farm bill will get done by the September 30th expiration of the current law, but says the public writing of a new bill may have to wait a bit longer.
Moore says election year politics and the need to give farmers program-certainly will be key in speeding the process along.
AFBF expects a ‘shoring up’ of farm bill programs, versus a wholesale overhaul. Among key areas of attention—crop insurance support, food stamps, dairy margin protection, payment limits, PLC reference prices, and ARC payment timing.
But, spending will be the main farm bill driver, especially with rising concern about the federal deficit, heightened by passage of an expensive tax reduction bill.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.