The process of hammering out the 2023 Farm Bill is officially underway. As lawmakers focus on a variety of programs, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says that they need to keep the unique nature of rural America in mind.
According to Vilsack, “One thing that we need to focus on as we begin this work is the importance of having flexible programs. I think we found during the course of the pandemic, during the course of very significant and disruptive natural resource, natural disasters, that different parts of the country have been impacted, affected differently, and sometimes, a program which is designed to be nationwide, works well in one part of the country but not as well in another part of the country.”
Vilsack also said that he wants the Farm Bill to encourage a “circular economy” that keeps processing and manufacturing jobs in the communities where the natural resources are being produced.
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