Illinois farmers want to see farm bill passed on time
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[August 23, 2023]
By Zeta Cross | The Center Square contributor
(The Center Square) – To get the new Farm Bill passed by the end of the
year, Congress needs to start marking up the draft bill in September,
Illinois Farm Bureau president Rich Guebert said.
Congressional staffers are putting together a draft bill that should be
ready for legislators to work on when they get back to Washington after
Labor Day, he said.
“We need to get it done and our legislators understand that,” Guebert
said.
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Since the well-regarded 2018 Farm Bill passed with bipartisan support
five years ago, a lot has changed, Guebert said. Trade policy and prices
and many other areas need to be addressed in an updated farm bill,
Guebert said.
“Things have changed dramatically since 2018,” Guebert said.
Illinois has five legislators on the Agriculture Committee: Rep. Mike
Bost, Rep. Mary Miller, Rep. Nikki Budzinski, Rep. Jonathan Jackson and
Rep. Eric Sorensen. Guebert has gone to Washington three times this year
to talk about the Farm Bill. Within the last month and a half, he has
visited the five legislators.
“They understand the importance of an on-time farm bill and they want to
get it done,” Guebert said.
“The farm bill extends beyond the farm gate by protecting our nation’s
food supply and providing access to nutrition for families facing
hunger. We want to advance conservation efforts and spur innovation
through agriculture research,” Guebert said.
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The challenge for the ag community is getting newer members of Congress
– many of them from urban and suburban districts –to understand how much
the Farm Bill affects everyone in the country, Guebert said.
“Over 240….250 Congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. have never
experienced writing a farm bill or voting on a farm bill,” Guebert said.
So having conversations, raising awareness and telling the ag story is
critical, he said.
“It is really important that we keep the nutrition, TEFAP (The Emergency
Food Assistance Program) together with the other commodity titles –
particularly crop insurance,” Guebert said.
Using the recent baselines for the cost of farm programs, the
Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost of the new farm bill
could be as high as $1.5 trillion. Compare that to the cost of the 2018
Farm Bill – just under $900 billion, Guebert said.
“The real challenge is ‘where’s the money going to come from?’” Guebert
said.
Agriculture spending has a multiplier effect on local economies.
“The USDA has calculated that roughly 8 cents of every dollar spent on
food purchases – including SNAP purchases – returns to the farm gate,”
Guebert said.
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The importance of SNAP (the $119.4 billion dollar food stamp program),
the importance of crop insurance, and the importance of commodity
programs are all on the table.
Other titles in the farm bill cover trade, horticulture, conservation
programs, rural development and research, Guebert said.
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