Senator Jerry Moran says Congress should be acting now to craft a new Farm Bill, saying lawmakers need to “provide certainty to those who provide our food, fuel and fiber.”
Moran says the inability to resume work on a new Farm Bill reflects a new attitude in Congress, where there are indications the current Farm Bill may get a significant extension with no adjustments.
Moran says weather, economics and supply chain issues make agriculture challenging, but he also says inflation has constrained producers even more. He says input costs — things like loan interest, feed, fertilizer, labor and fuel — have risen $100 billion since the last Farm Bill was approved. He also says USDA has forecast a better than $40 billion fall in farm productivity, or almost 25 percent, since 2022.
Both Senator Roger Marshall and Second District Congressman Jake LaTurner have said the next Farm Bill needs to emphasize and bolster crop insurance when it’s passed. Moran agrees, saying revenue protection programs also need to be strengthened in the next document. He says failure to pass a Farm Bill means a raft of missed opportunities, including renewable fuels and research.
