The US Senate Ag Committee has pushed the long-awaited Farm Bill update to the full chamber.
Committee members voted along party lines to send the bill to the floor with no major revisions, despite several proposed changes — including Proposition 12 language blocking states from approving production, living arrangement or other benchmarks that affect goods sold in other states; as well as changes to state cost sharing timelines for SNAP nutrition policy; and restoring money for conservation programs.
US Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran hailed the vote. Marshall says the package “strengthens the farm safety net, expands market opportunities, invests in rural America, and modernizes the programs producers rely on every day.” Moran, an Ag Committee member, says this is a big step forward because of its inclusion of year-round E-15 fuel sales, additions to the Conservation Reserve Program, increased Farm Service Agency loan limits and other policy points.
Marshall — and his challenger, Democrat Adam Hamilton — faulted Democrats for voting against the bill, which passed on a party-line vote. Moran, meanwhile. urged his fellow committee members to put politics aside and do what’s best for ag producers.
A vote in the US Senate is pending at this time. The House has already approved its version of the Farm Bill and is now on recess.
