(WASHINGTON D.C.) — Despite a packed agenda for legislators on Capitol Hill this year, the Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee remains optimistic that a new five-year Farm Bill will get completed in 2025 to help producers struggling with a down farm economy.
“The farm bill is right at the very top for so many of us,” according to Senator John Boozman (R-AR). “It’s important that we support our farmers, support rural America. We have a majority leader from South Dakota who’s very supportive. He’s on our committee. He’s very, very active on the committee. And so that’s, I think, is a plus. President Trump understands that rural America voted for him, and I remind him of that every chance I get and have others remind him of that. So this is one of the things that’s right at the top of the list, but it’s complicated. It’s a big bill.”
That big bill has been a major hurdle for lawmakers to cross for the last few years, as the price tag is not getting smaller anytime soon. All the while, the 2018 Farm Bill keeps getting extended but is providing producers with price supports that are becoming very outdated.
“It’s a trillion and a half dollars over 10 years, so it’s a lot of money. And we need even more money so that we can make it such that the safety nets, the risk management tools that we talked a lot about today and have talked about so often that we can update those,” says Senator Boozman. “2018, 2019 was great in the sense that the 2018 Farm Bill worked well. The problem is inflation came, and the 2018 Farm Bill was based on 2012 data. The world is totally different now than it was in 2012. And so as a result, it just doesn’t work.”
Farmers, ranchers and industry professionals continue to advocate for an updated Farm Bill while the farm economy continues to be in dire conditions according to many. Last week, the Senate Ag Committee held it’s third hearing in a series on the farm economy, which Senator Boozman acknowledged is in a tough place at the moment.
“This is the third big hearing that we’ve had this year about where we’re at,” says Senator Boozman. “And we’ve had producers of about everything you can grow. And then again, not only in the ground, but livestock, you know, the whole bit. And it’s really interesting because the message is the same. You know, it’s just very difficult. Cattle is probably the exception, but it’s very difficult to make a living in farming right now.”
“It just doesn’t pencil out,” he adds. “And so the safety nets that we have in the current farm bill, they’re just not adequate. They just don’t work.
The state of the farm economy is also making it difficult for new and beginning farmers to get involved in agriculture. That was another key point stressed in the third hearing and one that the Senate Ag Committee Chairman recognizes as an issue as well. “The average age of the farmer is about 59 years old now. So if we don’t have some new farmers coming along, then we’re going to be in trouble. But financially, it’s so difficult,” says Senator Boozman. “So we’re going to need to figure out some incentives to get young people involved.”
Further complicating the issues with the farm economy is the concern over President Trump’s trade agenda and tariffs, which Senator Boozman believes the President understands the importance of trade and the need to level the playing field.
“Well, trade is really important. And I think the president understands that. And what he wants is a level playing field,” says Senator Boozman. “So we work hard. We get these agreements. We abide by the rules, but the other countries don’t. And as a result, it makes it such that that’s a tremendous disadvantage. We’ve had a big trade imbalance last couple of years in agriculture. First time, you know, that anybody can ever remember. So we’re going in the wrong direction there. So I believe that tariffs can be used as a powerful tool to make people behave and do the right thing. So right now, I think we’re in a wait and see mode, you know, seeing how the president is going to go forward and use these things.”
Senator Boozman added that “We’re blessed. We can compete with anybody, but it has to be on a level playing field. So it’s not right that one side essentially charges either a tariff or hidden tariff, hidden taxes, whatever, and then we don’t. So I think that’s what he’s trying to do. In fact, I know that’s what he’s trying to do is level the playing field. Given a chance to compete fairly, the United States can compete with anybody.”
