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Farm economy and budget pressure in new farm bill

The National Corn Growers Association says the 2018 farm bill needs to address the fact that production expenses are not declining at the same rate as farm revenues.

Sam Willett tells Brownfield Congress also needs to deal with budget deficits, infrastructure improvements and tax reform which could lead to more farm bill cuts.  “We have to be mindful of the fact that there’s going to be a lot of budget pressure again to try to cut funding for the farm bill and I think we need to push back against that.”

He says there’s less than a month before the first farm bill hearing, but he doesn’t expect to see the same amount of listening sessions there were when drafting the 2014 farm bill.  “Very different environment, a lot of uncertainty as to how quickly this process can unfold, there are different economic pressures coming to bear on different sectors of the ag economy.”

Willett says NCGA plans on advocating for more market oriented risk management options for farmers.  And, he says while the new administration isn’t expected to be as aggressive on new regulations, voluntary conservation programs that deal with environmental and water quality challenges still needs to be addressed.

Willett spoke with Brownfield at the recent Great Lakes Crop Summit.

AUDIO: Interview with Sam Willett

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