It is not just ag groups sharing their opinions and priorities for the next Farm Bill, it is food retailers, too.
Their message is the new legislation is urgently needed. When the 2018 Farm Bill expired in September, a provision relating to SNAP fees and other government-provided food programs expired with it.
The Food Industry Association, representing thousands of retailers and wholesalers, say it is causing issues.
“We on the retail side will continue to pay our part of the transaction fee that’s associated with that. But the other side now is not required to pay that part of the transaction fee. So then the question becomes are we going to have to pay that at the retail sector, as well? And in a business that over the last 40-years has averaged a one to two-percent margin, that’s just not sustainable,” said Leslie Sarasin.
The fight over SNAP funding has been one of the biggest hurdles in the Farm Bill debate.
