A top Senate ag lawmaker says a new Farm Bill this year is growing more unlikely, and says another one-year extension of the 2018 legislation is needed.
Senator Chuck Grassley says talks in the Senate have hit a roadblock.
“Because of the inability to reach some compromise on a new Farm Bill, a five-year Farm Bill reflecting the inflation that we need that has happened since the 2018 Farm Bill for diesel, interest, seed, fertilizer, chemicals. I applaud the House for moving where they have, and they may pass one, but I think we still have these big differences that we have to work out in the Senate.”
On the House side, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has applauded their ambitions but calls the plan unreasonable. Senator Grassley says the House Ag Committee should not need to lower their expectations especially when it comes to increases in the farm safety net.
Senator Grassley is not the only one who believes the Farm Bill will need another extension. A survey by Punchbowl News shows nearly 70 percent of Congressional staffers think the House version likely will not pass this year. 75 percent of Democratic staffers and 62 percent of the GOP side responded and said they felt it was unlikely a Farm Bill would get passed by the current Congress.
