Congress has until the end of the year to extend the current Farm Bill or develop and pass a new one.
Neither step appears likely now, and with drought deepening, Kansas lawmakers — and others — have been mentioning concerns about the business side of agriculture. On KVOE’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Lyon County Extension Ag Agent Brian Rees said the days of relatively low interest rates are gone, at least for now.
The bill funds programs that helps farmers and ranchers with different insurance programs in cases of losses or disasters, but it also helps ag producers conserve their land; supports research and development; involves rural economic development ventures and funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, long known as food stamps but now known as SNAP.
US Senator Roger Marshall chastised Democrats and the Biden administration for not prioritizing the Farm Bill, but he says he is confident there will be a document in place. Earlier this fall, US Senator Jerry Moran said agriculture was in “serious condition” due to mounting economic pressures and increasingly thin to nonexistent profit margins.
