Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is making the farm bill one of several top priority legislative actions this year. Reid has introduced the same version of the farm bill that was passed in the U.S. Senate last session to the 113th Congress.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman says the nation’s largest farming organization is pleased by Reid’s action.
“We’re also encouraged to hear that Sen. Reid is making the farm bill one of several privileged, top priority legislative actions this year,” Stallman said. “This represents real hope for farmers and ranchers that the Senate, like last session, will aggressively move forward on a long-term farm bill to give farmers the risk management certainty we need.”
Stallman continued that the AFBF is confident the House Agriculture Committee will craft a compatible bill.
“America’s farmers deserve the policy certainty that a five-year farm bill would provide. We need a flexible, reform-minded bill that draws its key risk management tools from crop insurance provisions. We are encouraged that the process is starting early, and we look forward to working with leaders and committees from both houses and both parties to get this long-term farm bill done.”
The head of the House Agriculture Committee is reporting that there’s no firm date set yet for the nation’s legislators to begin crafting a new five-year farm bill.
According to Reuters, Frank Lucas has indicated that work on the farm bill won’t begin until after legislators have worked out other financial issues, which will determine the depth of the cuts to agriculture spending in the future.
Lucas declined to talk about what might be changed in the House’s version of the new five-year farm bill.