Time is running out to get an on-time Farm Bill across the finish line. The current Farm Bill expires at the end of September.
“Farm bills aren’t about Democrats and Republicans,” says Republican Senator John Boozman from Arkansas, Ranking Member of the Senate Ag Committee. He was in Indiana this week and told us that it’s not partisan politics slowing them down. “We’re actually working very, very close together with Senator Stabenow.”
Despite running out of days that Congress is in session, Boozman is optimistic that a Farm Bill can get done this calendar year if not before the September 30th deadline. He hopes that it doesn’t get pushed into next year when election politics could make things more difficult.
“Also, if we get it done before the end of the year, you don’t really have to worry about continuation of farm programs. There’s not much you have to do so that we continue on just like we are right now.”
Fellow Senate Ag Committee member Mike Braun invited Boozman to his home state to hear from farmers. Braun says if we don’t get the Farm Bill done this year, it’ll be because, “We don’t do our job like all other Americans do to where you get it done on time. All your local and state governments, they get it done within their fiscal year.
“We know every year that it gets pushed up to the deadline and still seem to do worse. That’s got to change at the federal level. We’ve got to go back to budgeting, regular order, getting on this the first day of the new fiscal year, break the bad habits that have given us such poor results.”
Boozman, Braun, and Indiana Senator Todd Young wrapped up their day Monday speaking with farmers at an Indiana Farm Bureau Talk Shop in Tippecanoe County after visiting Fair Oaks and the Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education earlier in the day.
