By Clint Thompson
Like other agriculture-based organizations across the country, the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) is concerned about the current upheaval in Washington, D.C.
The absence of a Speaker of the House has pushed back legislative issues like the next Farm Bill. It has created concern among specialty crop leaders about when one would actually be created, says Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council and co-chair of the SCFBA.
“The big question is when are we going to get a Farm Bill? With all of the chaos in the House, that to some degree has been upended. I think it’s slowed things down. The Farm Bill has been expired for nearing a month, and there’s really not a lot of daylight in sight about when a new Farm Bill could be reauthorized,” Quarles said. “We’re hoping that D.C. gets back to business and can settle the chaos down a little bit, and we can have an update of our farm policy, but right now those are decisions that are way above agriculture’s level.”
The SCFBA recently supported two proposed bills that would be included in the Farm Bill. But both are contingent upon legislative leaders working together instead of apart.
“Our goals about having things included in the Farm Bill come with the assumption that you’re going to have a Farm Bill,” Quarles said. “Speaker (Kevin) McCarthy was bounced out of his role running the House, because he brought a bi-partisan bill to the House floor that would avert a government shutdown. A Farm Bill would be another huge spending bill coming to the House floor, and a lot of those same folks who were very upset with Speaker McCarthy may similarly be very upset with the Farm Bill. It creates a lot of chaos for Chairman (G.T.) Thompson, Ranking Member (David) Scott and all of the people who care about getting a farm policy done. It creates a lot of hurdles for them in actually getting a bill to the president’s desk and enacted into law.
“We want to be organized for specialty crops. We want to have good bills like these marker bills ready to go, and when that train starts to move, we certainly want to be on it.”