As the August Congressional Recess gets ready to come to an end, members of both the House and the Senate have been hearing from constituents about the topics that are important to them. In Iowa, that means the upcoming Farm Bill. This is the country’s biggest piece of food and ag legislation, and it is up for renewal.
While ag tends to give us the most bipartisan group of lawmakers, it can also be contentious in the main chambers. The farm bill was a discussion we had with members of our Iowa delegation during the Iowa State Fair. Senate Republican Joni Ernst and House Democrat Cindy Axne of the 3rd District both commented on this major legislation.
Senator Joni Ernst stopped at our tent first last week. We talked about several topics, but the 2023 Farm Bill was among them. Conservation is often a large part of the discussion, as CRP and other programs are set in the legislation. However, Senator Ernst talked about the conservation measures that were in the Inflation Reduction Act. She remarked that those measures didn?t go through the usual channels to get attached.
Congresswoman Cindy Axne talked about her thoughts on the Farm Bill?s priorities.
Crop insurance is usually a tough negotiation even when crop prices are low. This year?s weather has really illustrated the need for the programs even when prices are high. Congresswoman Axne believes there is still enough support in the House to keep it going in the next Farm Bill.
Of course, there is an election between now and the next Farm bill. That means we could see different management at the beginning of next year. The makeup of the bill definitely can hang in the balance of these mid-term elections.
