Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts told reporters he hopes to mark up the farm bill in early May. “I will say both sides, Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell, have indicated as soon as we get that done, we will have floor time. The last time, we did it in two days. I hope we can replicate that.” Roberts says he is committed to fixing the Agricultural Risk Coverage Program. “I think with prices the way they are, farmers should have the option for ARC-County payments. There may be some more farmers considering the Price Loss Coverage program with prices the way they are. We hope to improve both to the degree we can. That would be an option for farmers down the road.” Roberts also believes using RMA data to calculate ARC-County is a good idea.
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