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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Trade and agriculture issues may play unusually prominent roles in congressional races this fall as Democrats look to seize control of the House and hang on to Senate seats they hold in farm states that President Donald Trump carried in 2016.
For many commodities, market prices have been dismal and with years of declining farm income, many older farmers are calling it quits and walking away.
Schools have sharply increased their purchases of locally produced foods in recent years while also taking other measures to reduce food waste and encourage kids to eat more healthful products, including installing school gardens.
The No. 2-ranking Senate Republican is urging the Senate’s farm bill negotiators to consider tightening food stamp work requirements in line with provisions in the House-passed version.
Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts plans to call the first formal meeting of the farm bill conference committee shortly after the Labor Day recess and hopes to make headway by then in settling differences with the House negotiators.
Advocates for local and small-scale farming faced a bleak future as Congress prepared to write a new farm bill, so they decided to broaden support by reaching across party lines.
The Senate's nine farm bill negotiators include Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who wants the legislation finalized next month, as well as a Democrat facing a tough re-election race this fall, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.
Some Republicans say the best thing Congress could do to help farmers withstand the turmoil in trade policy is to pass a new farm bill. But economists say the legislation is unlikely to offer much relief to farmers, especially soybean growers, even if commodity prices don’t recover from their current tariff-induced slump.
