3 minute read
Farm Bill Fears and Facts
Farm Bill Fears and Facts
Every year, a new Halloween thriller comes out and movie theatres fill up with patrons ready to experience a new, frightful story. There is something about the days getting shorter and the weather getting colder that gets people in the mood to tap into their “spooky” side. Many times, these experiences are fun, fascinating, and exhilarating; other times, when people try and scare us, it’s to push their own narrative or project fears.
Think of the Farm Bill, for example. We’ve been hearing concerns about government funding, farm bill extensions, and members not voting for months. It seems like every day, the media is trying to tell farmers that their failure is eminent, dependent on the single stroke of a pen by one entity. This is an important year for our farmers and we never want to minimize the importance of a Farm Bill; however, the Voice for Soy is also the voice of reason and a source of fact-based, not fear-based information. So, let’s look at some facts and fears surrounding the Farm Bill and what you can expect in the coming months.
Fact: The Farm Bill is important
The Farm Bill IS important. It holds statutory power over both farm programs and nutrition programs. Whether you farm or you eat, this bill will affect you.
Fear: If the Farm Bill doesn’t pass, farmers everywhere will be unable to farm
You will still have crop insurance. You will still have access to funding under current conservation programs. SNAP will go on. Farm commodity programs will continue to be funded. Under a worst-case scenario, lawmakers revert to a previous law if the new Farm Bill does not pass. This is not ideal for farmers as “permanent law” is enacted and would have major impacts on dairy producers in particular. This would drive Congress to enact a new Farm Bill.
Fact: It will take 218 votes in the House and 60 votes in the Senate to pass the bill
Through the legislative process, it will take a simple majority of votes (218 out of 435) to pass the Farm Bill out of the House. Generally, it takes a simple majority of votes in the Senate (51 out of 100) to pass a bill, but due to Senate rules, legislation generally needs 60 votes to proceed over any objections through a process called “invoking cloture”. Invoking cloture essentially means that Senators need to stop debating the bill, a procedural move they will use to hold up the actual vote. Currently, there is interest on both sides of the House and Senate to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill, which is good news, considering the party margins in both chambers are very, very slim.
Fear: This Farm Bill will drastically alter the way you farm
This Farm Bill is not looking to be particularly radical or life-altering. Due to thin majorities in the House and Senate between Democratic and Republican strongholds, as well as a looming Presidential election, and the natural cycle of this legislation, this bill appears to resemble (with minor tweaks) bills of the past. The staff at ISA is heavily monitoring the language of this bill and will immediately alert members if any of this changes, and the best way to stay informed is to sign up to be an ISG member.
Please visit ilsoygrowers.com/membership-application/ to get access to our email updates about all-things Farm Bill.
