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Two federal bills affecting farmers might not get through Congress this fall

Two pieces of federal legislation affecting farmers might not get through Congress in this session.

The ACRE or American Civil Rights and Equality Act is a bill that gives federal government loans to farmers of color.  Congressman Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin says his bill would remove the race-based requirement to qualify… but it’s not getting anywhere. “The bill has stopped moving at this point. I suspect Speaker Pelosi will not move that bill, but it really should be passing. There’s no Congressman that should be voting for a bill like the American Recovery Plan that explicitly discriminates based on race.”

Another bill is the FARM Act, or Future Agriculture Retention and Maintenance Act would restrict government subsidies for solar and wind generation on productive ag land.  Tiffany says this bill is getting more support. “We need to maintain our productive agricultural land. We’re beginning to see food shortages around the world and this is going to become a much greater concern. We have to keep our productive agricultural land in agriculture production.”

But, Tiffany says he’s not sure if it will get through Congress before the end of the session.

Congressman Tiffany spoke with Brownfield during Wisconsin Farm Technology Days in Loyal, Wisconsin Tuesday.