WASHINGTON D.C. (RFD NEWS) — Concern is growing across the agricultural community over the future of the Farm Bill and whether the long-awaited legislation will be signed into law soon. In an era of deep division in Washington, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle say they have clear expectations for what American farmers need included in the bill.
RFD NEWS correspondent Frank McCaffrey spoke with U.S. Congressmen Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and John Rose (R-TN), who say bipartisan cooperation will be key to getting the Farm Bill to the president’s desk. Both lawmakers acknowledge the importance of the agricultural economy and say passing the bill remains a priority.
“We’ve got to provide support to our ag industry,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28). “If we don’t take care and work with them, you know, we don’t want to go to what happened to the United States in the 70s, where we’re importing oil and oil and oil. We cannot be dependent on food as a country. We got to be self-sufficient for food.”
Rep. John Rose (TN-6) outlined what he referred to as “Farm Bill 2.0,” explaining that it would address several remaining sections of the legislation: “Farm Bill 2.0, which is, I guess, what at least some people are calling the remainder of the Farm Bill, and it’s going to primarily address the credit title, Title 5, Rural Development, Title 6, Research, Title 7, Forestry, Title 8, Energy, Title 9, Horticulture, Title 10, and then parts of Title 12, the miscellaneous sections.”
Cuellar emphasized that much of the Farm Bill funding structure is often misunderstood.
“Roughly a little bit over 75 percent goes to nutrition programs, food stamps, school lunches, et cetera,” says Cuellar. “The other 25, a little bit more than 25 or so, goes to the ag farmers. So it’s almost at 75, 25 percent.”
However, Rose noted that nutrition programs such as food stamps and school lunches are addressed in separate legislation.
“And, you know, a remarkable achievement in terms of the savings that were achieved prospectively, particularly with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” Rose said. “And then significant gains with respect to the Safety Net Programs for Agriculture.”
RFD NEWS reports a markup for the Farm Bill is being targeted for late February, with Rose suggesting it could coincide with the State of the Union address. Despite the strong likelihood that we will have a Farm Bill soon, Rep. Cuellar expressed his extreme frustration — mirroring the frustration of the ag community as a whole — that lawmakers have yet to produce one. Rep. Cuellar did not mince words.
“You can talk to any farmer, rancher, you know, we’re way behind on that for many years. The Farm Bill is important,” Cuellar said. “And you know, I talked to the chairman, he says that in February — we’re already in February — that we’re going to go ahead and vote on it. And here we are, we haven’t passed a bipartisan Farm Bill in a long, long time.”
Rose said that significant time was spent last year working on what he called the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act (OBBBA), which contributed to the delay, along with last fall’s government shutdown.
“The disruption that we saw last fall, I think, had we not seen the government close down with the Schumer shutdown for 43 days,” Rose said. “I think there would have been a chance that we got the Farm Bill, you know, in front of Congress late last year.”
Rose added that the current goal is to bring the Farm Bill before the House Agriculture Committee in the coming weeks.
Frank McCaffrey reporting for RFD NEWS.
