Senate Majority Leader John Thune is on the road this week, visiting farmers and ranchers in his home state of South Dakota.
He will have a full agenda when he returns to Washington, and he told a crowd that a five-year Farm Bill is front and center.
According to the Senator, “I think that we can get 60 votes on a Farm Bill if we can get the Ag Committee to mark the bill up, get input from the Democrats, obviously, on things they want to see in there. These, historically, have been bipartisan, and I think it can be, and I hope it will be, but a lot of what we got in the Reconciliation Bill is going to be good for the next five years.”
Sen. Thune made those comments at DakotaFest.
Another issue he touched on was mandatory country of origin labeling, or MCOOL.
Thune says that he wants it addressed in the Farm Bill if possible, but notes that he will have to gauge where votes would stand.
MCOOL was removed back in 2015.
South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds argues that labeling is needed to protect the U.S. beef markets from distortion.
Lawmakers are expected back on Capitol Hill sometime next week. Aside from the Farm Bill, they will also be racing the clock to avoid a government shutdown.
The stopgap bill passed last year runs out at the end of September. That is the same time the Farm Bill extension also expires.
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