With the 2018 farm bill expiring this fall, lawmakers who will shape the next version of the bill indicated they would seek to address challenges facing U.S. farmers: high costs, industry consolidation and a safety net that is insufficient to cover intensifying natural disasters.
“It is time to retire our dress shoes and put on our work boots,” said Republican Rep. G.T. Thompson of Pennsylvania, the House Agriculture Committee chair. “I will need every one of you at the table to help us deliver a farm bill for the backbone of this country: the American producer.”
Industry witnesses – including representatives from the National Farmers’ Union, American Farm Bureau and the National Chicken Council – pushed committee members to consider hikes in commodity crop insurance reference prices, along with increased federal spending on market development and agricultural research.
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