WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD NEWS) — The Farm Bill is currently waiting to see a full House vote. The National Farmers Union (NFU) is happy to see it make progress, but says more attention is needed toward risk protection programs.
“Many of the safety net programs that we talk about in the Farm Bill were created back in 2012 and then put into a Farm Bill in 2014,” said NFU President Rob Larew. “he world is a really different place for agriculture today, and so I think that what we want our elected leaders to do is actually look at today’s needs, listen to family farmers and ranchers, and create a Farm Bill that truly addresses the needs and meets the moment.”
Larew says it is important for the industry to come together right now, but he worries rural needs will not be met otherwise.
“There are too few members of Congress who actually come from farming and agricultural districts,” Larew continued. “And so, that’s the reason why we’ve had, for several decades now, this grand coalition of folks who care about conservation, who care about feeding the hungry, who care about making sure that our rural communities are strong, and so, we’re worried that this coalition is certainly fractured at this point, but I don’t see how the needs of family farmers and ranchers can get met when the votes just aren’t there.”
Sorghum growers also want quick action on the Farm Bill, saying it is just one of many issues they hope to address this year.
“We continue to push E15 across the finish line, one of the most important domestic policy items that could be done to create demand that doesn’t just help with short-term economic challenges but works on economic challenges year after year after year,” said National Sorghum Producers president Tim Lust. “So, you know, that’s number one. Certainly, we have a Farm Bill that we have been working through, and while there are core parts of that bill that were passed and handled, there are still key components of that bill that haven’t been handled.”
House ag leaders had hoped to get the Farm Bill voted on by Easter, but no dates have been secured just yet.
At the same time, Federal debt is rising.
The Joint Economic Committee says that over the last year, it’s grown by around $7 billion every day. Budget crunchers warn that this is unsustainable and could put even more pressure on agriculture. The Congressional Budget Office shows public debt could hit 101 percent of g-d-p this year. By 2036, that number shoots to 120 percent. To put that into perspective, before the financial crash of 2008, the debt ratio was just 35 percent of GDP.
In 2010, it was 62 percent. The only comparable time to current conditions was in 1946, right after World War II, when debt was 106 percent of GDP. For farmers, this could mean higher borrowing costs and long-term debt across farm balance sheets.
The Georgia Farm Bureau leaders also met with policymakers in Washington, D.C. recently. The Farm Monitor takes us along as he explains what it will take to keep Georgia farmers profitable this year. It’s easy to understand why folks are so passionate there. In 2024, the University of Georgia found that the total farmgate value of goods in Georgia was $18 billion.
