Lawmakers finally have their hands on a short-term spending package that will keep the government running through March. They have just days to read the 1,500 page bill that is loaded with new spending, and that includes some much-needed relief for agriculture.
The bill includes another one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers and ranchers to survive market conditions, $20 billion for ag losses due to Hurricanes Milton and Helene, and a provision for year-round use of E15. The bill also delays business reporting requirements, which a judge recently put to a temporary stop.
House Ag Committee Chair GT Thompson released a statement shortly after the bill was filed. He says, “Looking ahead to the 119th Congress, I hope to move quickly to enact a five-year Farm Bill that aligns the farm safety net with the needs of producers, among many other policies, to minimize the need for annual economic aid.”
Ag groups across the sector are praising lawmakers for getting ag provisions into the continuing resolution, or “mini omnibus bill” as some are calling it, but its fate still remains in the air.
RFD-TV’s Tony St. James joined Suzanne Alexander to discuss what he is hearing from the industry and what we can expect in the coming days.
Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall is urging Congress to pass the continuing resolution now, but he warns that the industry is in trouble, and he says farmers need a modern Farm Bill next year.
“The ag economy is in recession. Farm losses have hit $30 billion, and we’ve lost over 141,000 farmers in the last report from USDA that have gone out of business, and it’s time for Congress to step up and have the farmers’ back. We need to keep up this drumbeat. Congress hasn’t done its job for a long time. They keep kicking the can down road on the farm bill for two years now, which is part of the reason farmers in such a tough spot. So, we need farmers to call their members of Congress and to send emails today to say that it’s time to step up and help cover the massive losses that agriculture has experienced before we see any more of our farms go under.”
Duvall warns that if Congress does not pass this continuing resolution, there could be big trouble for family farms. 10 percent of U.S. farms have disappeared since 2012 and some warn more could be on the way. That comes out to more than 200,000 farms between 2012-2022. No farms were exempt, with all four farm size categories seeing declines. Farms making less than $10,000 fell the most over the last decade, dropping 13 percent.
