Farm Bill Included in the Budget Battle

Tensions are rising within the Beltway over the House budget reconciliation plan, which calls for a cut of $230 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Some House Republicans are concerned that large hit to SNAP benefits could torpedo the farm bill. National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Chandler Goule is not optimistic. “I think the only way that we get a farm bill this year is if it is in the reconciliation bill and if the farm bill is in that (reconciliation) bill, we will be used as a piggy bank and you can probably kiss your PLC increases goodbye. I don’t see how you expand crop insurance, I don’t see how you expand your cost share in the voluntary conservation programs. If we want a farm bill that’s truly going to support farmers, it is going to have to be a stand-alone bill and I just don’t see where there’s enough time on the calendar for the first session of this particular Congress.”