The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives is urging Congress to finish the next farm bill on time. In releasing the organization’s farm bill priorities Tuesday, President and CEO Chuck Conner noted the “challenging price environment” farmers are dealing with in explaining the need for a timely farm bill. The council’s framework outlines eight general principles to be included in the …
Coalition Calls for Double the Funding for USDA Research
More than 60 farm and commodity groups are calling for lawmakers to double the funding for agriculture research in the next farm bill. The coalition of 63 organizations sent a letter to House and Senate agriculture leaders, requesting the lawmakers increase the Department of Agriculture’s research, education and extension budget to $6 billion over the life of the next farm …
Conaway on 2018 Farm Bill
The House Agriculture Committee has hosted various farm bill listening sessions across the country to get input from farmers and ranchers on what they would like to see in the next farm bill. Committee Chairman Mike Conaway says a draft of the 2018 Farm Bill could come up before the full House of Representatives yet this year, or early next. …
Legislation Against Farm Bill Cuts a Non-Starter
Senator Pat Roberts says there will not be a vote on a proposal to protect the farm bill from budget cuts. The Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman says the Senate will not consider the bill offered up by the committee’s ranking Democrat, Debbie Stabenow. She filed the bill last week that aimed to keep all farm bill programs away from any …
Stabenow to Shield Farm Bill from Cuts
Debbie Stabenow, the ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee, wants to defend the farm bill from possible budget cuts that could come during the budget reconciliation process that got started this week. Politico’s Morning Ag Report says she filed an amendment on Wednesday that’s intended to keep all farm bill programs away from any spending reductions from 2019 to …
Sunbelt Ag Expo Hosts Farm Bill Listening Session
Tuesday afternoon, as part of the opening day of the annual Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia, U.S. Representative Austin Scott (R-GA-08), along with U.S. Representatives Rick Allen (R-GA-12) and Al Lawson (D-FL-05), hosted a listening session entitled, “The Next Farm Bill: Conversations with Congress.” Southeast AgNet’s Randall Weiseman talked with Representative Scott about the Agriculture Committee’s efforts to put …
Conaway Speaks on Disaster Relief in New Farm Bill
The House Agriculture Committee recently held its sixth and final Farm Bill listening session in upstate New York. Committee Chair Mike Conaway said the listening session in New York, along with the other five sessions, were invaluable to the committee as it looks toward developing a new Farm Bill. Disaster recovery programs are a big part of the Farm Bill. …
Farm Bill Discussion at Florida Organic Food & Farming Summit
By Jaci Schreckengost Discussion about the possible effects of the 2018 farm bill on organic growers was one of the topics at the recent Florida Organic Food & Farming Summit. With the farm bill expiring in September 2018, many are eager to speak their minds to let those writing the new farm bill know what has and has not worked …
House Agriculture Working on 2018 Farm Bill
The House Agriculture Committee is drafting the next farm bill and could bring the bill up for consideration by the full House of Representatives yet this year. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway commented last week on the timeframe of getting the 2018 Farm Bill through the House and Senate. Conaway says the Committee and staff are putting “pencil to …
Farm Bill Opposition Groups Discuss Strategy
Agri-Pulse is reporting that groups covering all points on the political spectrum are getting together to discuss ways to attack the upcoming Farm Bill when the development process begins in Congress. Roughly two-dozen different groups sent representatives to Washington this week to hear a presentation from an economist and then discuss different messages they can take to Congress regarding changes …