Post-Election Farm Bill some, not all see as easier

A farm bill in the next Congress may be easier than doing one before the election, according to some, but not all.

Top Senate Ag Republican John Boozman was asked at a recent Agri-Pulse forum if it’d be better to wait until a new Congress to do what seems nearly impossible before the November election.

“People say, ‘You don’t want to do a farm bill, you want to do it next year.’ I believe it’ll be as easy to do it this year as it is next year. So, who knows what the dynamics are going to look like then? But I do know how important this is and how important it is to give our farmers stability.”

And then, there are the naysayers like Texas A & M’s renowned Ag economist Joe Outlaw who said earlier.

“I don’t expect it to be done in ’24 unless something wild happens after the election. And even then, if (the) House or Senate flips, is it going to be enough change that I don’t think it will happen early in ’25, either.”

But Senator Boozman has reason to disagree

“In the House, there are a number of districts that are in situations where Democrats are holding those districts. They’re red districts, but they do a very good job of representing their folks in those districts, and so they’re hanging on. They’re doing well. They want to get it passed. Republicans want to get it passed, I believe, to show farm country that they’re for them, and they want to do their best to make things as easy as they can for them in a very difficult situation.”

USDA predicts a more than a 25 percent drop this year in farm income on lower commodity prices and rising production costs.

-NAFB