House Republicans have advanced a budget blueprint that would include $12 billion in farm aid.
The assistance is part of a larger package in the reconciliation bill that still needs to be debated. The House Agriculture Committee still needs to decide how the $12 billion would be allocated before it is sent to the Budget Committee
Although farmers need this emergency aid in the midst of the ongoing farm economic crisis, two fundamental issues remain: the underlying reconciliation bill includes funding for the Iran war, which is a major factor in farmers’ financial stress, and this emergency aid is only necessary because existing farm programs do not provide an effective safety net for farmers.
NFU has continually called for fundamental improvements to farm programs to alleviate the need for repeated ad hoc emergency aid packages as the farm economy continues to deteriorate.
Attention now turns to the Senate, where leaders are indicating interest in passing a government funding bill before taking action on another reconciliation bill.
