House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson and Ranking Member Angie Craig are meeting regularly for breakfast meetings. On the Farmfest stage, Craig said there are no staff or other committee members at these meetings. The ‘skinny farm bill’ will be part of future discussions. “The farm loan programs are set to expire in September, which needs to happen; we’ve got to increase access to REAP (Rural Energy for America Program), in my opinion and that still needs to happen; we need to expand market access for specialty crops,” said Craig. “All of that could have and would have been done in a traditional farm bill.” After a contentious budget reconciliation process, the Democratic caucus’s willingness to engage in the remainder of the farm bill provisions is unknown. “The trust factor here is really low in the Congress.”
