More than 400 farm groups on Tuesday asked Congress for more money for the next farm bill than is in the current baseline. The letter, sent to both the House and Senate Ag panels, says: “Sufficient budgetary resources will be needed to craft a new bipartisan, multi-year, comprehensive, and meaningful piece of legislation. As you work to build the federal budget for fiscal year 2024, we seek your support for providing sufficient resources to the committees to craft the next farm bill.”
The letter was distributed by the American Soybean Association. It includes concerns about China, the No. 1 market for U.S. farm products, by noting the country is “marked with geopolitical volatility” and that if a trade war were to occur “it is difficult to envision a scenario that would provide meaningful assistance without significant improvements.”
Other topics included in the “sufficient budgetary resources” letter include Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Covid-19, other supply chain issues, non-tariff trade barriers erected by multiple countries, and devastating natural disasters, all of which the farm groups say “have tested the effectiveness of current farm policy.”
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