World Ag Expo kicked off in Tulare, Ca. on Tuesday with a farm bill listening session—hosted by House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.)—taking place at the event.
To set the stage for the hearing and bill, Chip Flory, AgriTalk host, sat down with Thompson for an update on where the farm bill 2023 stands. According to Thompson, most of the legislation has already been penned.
“We don’t need to rewrite the entire farm bill,” Thompson says. “We’re comfortable with many parts in the 2018 bill and there aren’t many tweaks or changes, instead things we need to protect and invest in more.”
Thompson’s words on the farm bill carry more weight than most congressional leaders. With the House taking the reins in writing the bill this year, he says the pen is “firmly” in his hand.
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But that doesn’t mean the Senate is sitting idle in the writing process.
Senate’s Seat at the Farm Bill Table
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Ia.) told Flory last week that Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has already made “significant progress” in writing the Senate’s version of the bill.
“Our committee has been working on the bill since late last year as our members are out and about engaging with stakeholders,” Ernst says. “We’re compiling all that work to get a bipartisan bill written and to the finish line this year.”
Budget Estimates Released this Week
Farm bill discussions will continue momentum this week as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will release its 10-year cost estimate for current farm bill programs, including commodity supports and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which reserves 80% of farm bill funds.
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Jim Wiesemeyer, ProFarmer policy analyst, advises against putting too much weight in these numbers.
“CBO’s farm bill forecasts are frequently well off the mark in either direction,” says Wiesemeyer. “It’s a lot like USDA’s farm income projections in February for the year head. CBO looks out 10 years… good luck taking these forecasts too seriously.”
According to Wiesemeyer, these estimates are the reason the farm bill is frequently out of date so soon after it is written.
