The Farm Bill extension expires in one month, and while SNAP will certainly be part of the discussions, reference prices are still on the debate table.
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says he is hopeful lawmakers will come to quick agreement.
“There are obviously geographic differences between the level of support that a rice farmer would get under the reference price proposal, nearly $300,000 on average, and what a soybean producer here in Iowa would get about $5,400. I think it’ll be easy for people to get into a room and hammer out the details and hopefully provide the security, stability, and predictability that farmers need.”
Reference prices are an issue that ag lawmakers have been trying to tackle. Speaking at a field hearing in North Dakota, Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member John Boozman said resetting the safety net will take a group effort.
Analysts at Texas A&M say while time is running out to get the Farm Bill done, there is still a chance it could soon see some movement.
“There’s the prospect of getting something done in September. I think it’s probably pretty unlikely, but it is possible, right? A big question mark is what, if anything, Congress will do on disasters and not supplemental funding as they figure out how they’re going to fund the government into the next fiscal year as well. And so you’ve got a farm bill that conceivably, I mean a farm bill could move, it could also move alongside a disaster package or an appropriations spending package as well. I think Congress is trying to sort all of those things out right now,” said Dr. Bart Fischer.
Tax policy and trade are other areas they are working to address. This week saw another round of disappointing numbers surrounding ag trade. Nebraska Representative Adrian Smith says that will be part of Farm Bill discussions.
