Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins is frustrated with the lack of a new Farm Bill. She says the last Administration and Congress failed U.S. farmers.
The House passed their reconciliation package, which included big parts of the Farm Bill and now rests in the Senate. Rollins says that is promising but notes anything can happen.
“You never know. This is true sausage making, but the President’s vision, I think, is reflected in the fact that some of those key parts of the Farm Bill are within this reconciliation process. Now, will it get to the very end? We’ll see. If it doesn’t, we’ll just move on to the farm bill, and the President’s committed to seeing that through with our farmers, and I think we’ll get a good result.”
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is also eager to get farmers some support. However, in a call with reporters this week, he said he worries that any action now could hurt the chances of a full Farm Bill down the road.
“I think more along the lines of what we do in the Farm Bill provisions; does it weaken the chance of getting the rest of the five-year Farm Bill done? I know that in the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ it takes care of some of the immediate problems that farmers have, with the increased cost of production and the lesser protection that the 2018 Farm Bill gives farmers.”
Grassley says when it comes to the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ he believes the Senate will craft a separate bill, adding amendments in place of the House bill, and adds that is not yet been developed.
