Special Report

Thatcher: Lame duck passage of farm bill ‘less than 50-50’

Long time policy watcher Mary Kay Thatcher says the change in U.S. House leadership might result in the offering of alternative language in the USMCA. Thatcher, formerly with the American Farm Bureau Federation and now with Syngenta, says Democrats will likely not hold up the agreement, “but I think they’ll want to put their own stamp on it before it can be approved,” Thatcher told Brownfield Ag News Thursday. Thatcher gives a “less than 50-50 chance” of the lame duck Congress passing the farm bill. If it’s to happen, Thatcher tells Brownfield Ag News “[House Agriculture Committee] Chairman Mike Conaway and Speaker Ryan are going to have to say ‘we’re willing to let a lot of these work requirements with the SNAP program go.’”

AUDIO: Mary Kay Thatcher (3 min. MP3)