Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts hopes to begin Senate farm bill work next month. This week, Roberts said that he wants to mark up the bill in April, adding that his staff and the staff of 
the committee’s ranking Democrat, Debbie Stabenow, have begun work on the bill.
The key to the bill, Roberts told the Hagstrom Report, is coming up with language that has majority support so the committee can seek Senate floor time. Roberts said he would like to move the bill in March, but the omnibus appropriations bill and immigration will be priorities. He also said it is important to get the bill “right” before marking it up.
Speaking on tariffs, Roberts said “I don’t like tariffs,” saying the farm bill and tariffs “are not a separate issue” because farmers need to export. Roberts says the benefits of the recent tax bill could be negated by the tariffs and a trade war, further harming U.S. farmers and ranchers at an already critical time.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.