Opinion: It’s not really a ‘Farm’ Bill

Opinion: It’s not really a ‘Farm’ Bill

You might think that U.S. Treasury officials would have cringed last month when the president and Congress signed off on a Farm Bill with a total cost of US$867 billion. That’s 155 times more than President Trump’s US$5.6-billion request for the border wall, which shut down parts of the U.S. government. In fact, they probably

United States fifty dollar bill

Comment: House GOP could claim Farm Bill victory despite electoral defeat

Outgoing congressional representatives may deliver President Trump 
with a legislative victory before they head for the door


A week before American voters decided whether the midterm elections would deliver a red wave or a blue wave, OpenSecrets.org, the non-partisan group that tracks money in politics, made a spot-on prediction: the biggest wave on Nov. 6 would be green. Think greenbacks, that is, because this year’s political candidates, OpenSecrets estimated, would spend US$5.2


If we are going to have a farm program, supply management makes the most sense

If we are going to have a farm program, supply management makes the most sense

Revenue supports could break the cycle of over- and undersupply of agriculture commodities

The Texas Farmers Union contracted with the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center to develop a design for the commodity title of the 2018 Farm Bill based on supply management principles. Supply management, as a way to tackle the chronic price/income problems faced by farmers, has been out of favour in the U.S. for at least the

Opinion: Trump’s butcher shop

Donald Trump may want to “Make America Great Again” but his just-proposed 2018 budget contains no plans to make rural America great again. In fact, according to the Trump administration’s budget blueprint, American farmers, ranchers, and down-on-their-luck citizens must achieve greatness with trillions less so it and Congress can bestow a trillion-dollar tax cut on

The Capitol Building in Washington DC at night, capital of the United States of America

New boss, same brawls

The fate of the U.S. Farm Bill is far from certain in this new landscape

The Trump administration’s turtle-slow start with the Republican-led Congress bodes ill for what it and Republicans said would be a busy legislative year. Tax reform, replacing Obamacare, raising the debt ceiling, and a 2018 budget all await initial action. The GOP chairmen of the House and Senate ag committees, however, aren’t waiting on any White


two men in doorway of barn

U.S. farmers should vote like it’s 2018

The free enterprise rhetoric of U.S. farmers and farm groups may be about to catch up to them

As this year’s harvest and general election roll into October, key Capitol Hill farm policy players are looking past both events to stake out negotiating territory in the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill fight. It’s not too soon. The Congress elected next month will rewrite the every-five-year law that divvies up nearly $100 billion a year

Fiscal battles block work on new U.S. farm subsidy bill

Reuters / Fiscal battles in Congress could prevent lawmakers from writing a new Farm Bill for weeks or months, prolonging disputes over farm subsidy reforms and cuts in food stamps for the poor that together could save up to $35 billion. Agricultural leaders in Congress originally hoped for speedy work on the overdue Farm Bill

U.S. fiscal plan averts steep rise in milk prices

Adeal approved by the U.S. Congress late New Year’s Day to avoid the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff” also includes measures to avert the “dairy cliff” — a steep increase in milk prices. The tax agreement contains a nine-month fix for expiring farm subsidy programs by extending a 2008


U.S. crop insurance a post-election target

The federal government will likely shell out $15 billion or more for its share of crop losses caused by drought

Reuters – Federally subsidized crop insurance will be a big target for U.S. lawmakers looking to cut the budget deficit in the lame-duck session of Congress that opened recently after a status quo general election. But lawmakers aren’t expected to break their deadlock over enacting a five-year, $500-billion Farm Bill covering a wide range of

U.S. Farm Bill could be delayed until April 2013

Reuters / The U.S. Congress could delay passage of a new five-year Farm Bill until spring planting given the full plate of legislation needed after the election to avoid a fiscal cliff with its mandatory U.S. budget cuts, a top farm policy expert said Nov. 5. “My prediction is that we will get a Farm