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House Ag Ranking Member says urgency is needed in the 2023 Farm Bill process

The Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee says there is a lot of work yet to be done on the 2023 Farm Bill.

Glenn “GT” Thompson tells Brownfield the committee needs a more aggressive schedule.

“For the 2018 Farm Bill we had 130 different hearings and listening sessions, formal ones,” he says. “So, we need to be stepping it up. I’ve shared that with House Ag Committee Chairman David Scott, and we had Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack on a hearing last week and so I’m hoping that we see an increase in intensity of those sessions.”

The Pennsylvania Republican says future hearings on the farm bill will go title by title.

“First of all, we need to go through each of the titles, dedicate a hearing to each one, and bring in the responsible people at USDA that have oversite so they can report on the implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill,” he says. “That would be a great start.”

Congressman Jim Baird of Indiana says there needs to be movement in crafting the 2023 Farm Bill.

“If we need to have it out by December 2023, you might think that’s almost a year away or a little more than that,” he says. “By the time you identify what’s working in the current farm bill, have listening sessions to get that kind of information and finetune or tweak it, and then develop legislation that carries out what you want to do, it’s going to take us time. I think this program deserves the appropriate amount of time because it’s so foundational to our country and our rural neighborhoods.”  

The 2018 Farm Bill expires in 2023.

Brownfield interviewed Thompson and Baird during a farm policy and 2023 Farm Bill roundtable in Indiana.

Audio: Glenn “GT” Thompson