Details are thin, but there are rumblings on Capitol Hill that Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) is considering attaching temporary relief for farmers, in lieu of a farm bill, to a must-pass stop-gap spending bill.
Farm reporters asked Senator Chuck Grassley about a possible Stabenow rider on a continuing resolution to avert an October 1st government shutdown. He said, “There’s some rumors around town, but I haven’t been a part of these rumors. But I’ve picked up that Stabenow is looking at doing something on the continuing resolution. Exactly what it is, we don’t know, and we haven’t heard her speak specifically about it.”
Grassley says the only real solution for producers is a new five-year farm bill. He says, “It’d be a lot easier and that’s what should be done because then we’d have five years into the future, instead of 12 months, which you get through an appropriation bill.”
Grassley argues after months of farm bill stalemate, it’s important for Chair Stabenow to take a new step toward an updated farm bill. He says, “It’s to make sure the 2018 prices for PLC and ARC are updated to reflect the inflation in diesel, seed, fertilizer, chemicals, interest, and machinery parts.”
Partisan differences over funding higher support levels versus food stamps have stalled farm bill progress. Meanwhile, House Republicans were fighting over whether to include a voter citizenship rider in the continuing budget resolution.
Story by Matt Kaye/Berns Bureau Washington; courtesy of NAFB News Service
