Relief for low crop prices in a lame-duck session is still an active topic on Capitol Hill as prospects for a new farm bill this year dwindle with the close of the 118th Congress. American Farm Bureau’s Joe Gilson has been meeting with farm lawmakers and staffers, pushing for economic help for producers amid what he says is a farm recession.
Hurricanes have ravaged the Southeast, fires are affecting the West, low-prices, and high farming costs are everywhere. Yet, that doesn’t guarantee a new five-year farm bill.
Senator Chuck Grassley has predicted for months that a farm bill is probably not in the cards this year, and as for help with low prices Grassley is not optimistic.
That’s given the need to help Southern farmers and the increasing push to help all farmers, now facing tough challenges in securing operating loans next year.
USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Ag Alexis Taylor says this month’s lapse in the 2018 farm bill has ended authority for key export programs.
Taylor says those programs could recover quickly if and when there’s a new farm bill or another one-year extension.
