The Farm Bill finally arrived in Washington D.C. on Thursday after six years, but the reception was n’t the bipartisan welcomed the enormous food and land spending policy has traditionally received on Capitol Hill.
After 12 hours of discussion, the House Agriculture council passed the$ 1.5 trillion, 1, 000- site bill by a 33- 21 margin mostly along party lines, with just four Democrats in support of the measure. The once- every- five- years legislation funds a round of national initiatives, from anti- appetite efforts to grain coverage, conservation programs and bandwidth expansion.
The bill, which Republican Ag Chairman Glenn “G T” Thompson of Pennsylvania authored, will have an uphill climb to advance without more Democrat get- in, especially in the U. S. Senate. Minnesota on the council were divided on the president’s measures.
Rep. Brad Finstad praised the production agriculture programs national assets bolstered, including a clause that would invalidate a California pig welfare legislation that has upset animal farmers in the Upper Midwest. He represents a large expanse of southern Minnesota.
In his opening remarks to the committee, Finstad stated in his opening remarks that “our legislation will protect producers that I represent from other states ‘ use of political science to mandate wrongheaded protection standards.
The first- term Republican lawmaker from New Ulm said the bill represents the “priorities of farmers in southern Minnesota” and not” D. C. bureaucrats”. But Rep. Angie Craig, the Democrat whose swing- district is split roughly half between suburbs and cornfields, voted against the legislation and called it a “partisan” bill.
Craig criticized the measure for returning nutrition payments to levels not seen since the 1990s in her opening remarks, citing the oil painting of former Ag Chairman and Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson.
The bill the majority has presented to us today, sadly, disregards the political realities of this congress and the demands of the farmers I represent, Craig said, pointing out that the measure favors” southern commodities at the expense of Midwest row crops.”
The Farm Bill, initially set to expire in September 2023, earned a year- long extension from Congress and the Biden Administration. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the Senate Ag chairwoman, has released a blueprint for her bill, but has not yet announced a mark- up.
Additionally, there is ongoing discussion about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s funding levels, which was primarily focused on conservation-related expenditures.
Republicans have attempted to repurpose the funds for a wider range of conservation programs, including those that do not necessarily lead to a reduction in greenhouse gases, while Democrats had pushed to protect the so-called” climate-smart” funds the Inflation Reduction Act earmarked.
The state’s agricultural associations, as well as the newly established hemp industry, watch the twice-decade farm bill, from corn farmers to sugar beet growers, timber harvesters, and rural development offices. The current House version would outlaw cannabinoids from hemp, but it would make the regulatory process simpler for industrial hemp growers.
Before the vote, the Minnesota Industrial Hemp Association president David Ladd stated,” We want to stick on the ag side of these end-use markets. We must create a strong framework for this sector, they say.
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