For months, US Senator Roger Marshall has been calling for passage of a Farm Bill. US Senator Jerry Moran made a similar plea in Congress this week.
Moran says agriculture is in “serious condition,” thanks to significant increases in input costs.
According to Moran, farm income has dipped 43 percent the last five years and is on track to be almost 20 percent lower this year than it was two years ago. Moran also says the United States now imports more ag products than it exports to the tune of $42.5 billion, putting farmers at risk and threatening national security.
Moran says Farm Bill passage is normally slow, but the negative impact of not passing legislation this year hurts the ag business sector because the current document is inadequate for offering safety nets and does not take into account the financial pressures now facing agriculture. Besides an updated or extended Farm Bill, Moran also says federal lawmakers should also pass supplemental relief funding for farmers and ranchers.
