Today, the House Committee on Agriculture marked-up its version of the 2018 Farm Bill, or H.R. 2 Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018.
“NAWG commends the House Agriculture Committee on continuing to move the Farm Bill forward and urges a bipartisan process to enable a bill to pass out of the House," says NAWG President Jimmie Musick. "In order for the bill to be completed and reauthorized this year, Republicans and Democrats must work together on legislation that works for both sides and all of agriculture.
Musick notes there are several provisions in H.R. 2 that will be good for wheat growers, and NAWG will continue to work with Congress to make improvements. "Absolutely our top priority throughout this process is to maintain a strong crop insurance program," he says. "Additionally, NAWG supports provisions that provide financial incentives for farmers to adopt conservation practices into their operations. The bill also rightly reauthorizes the Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative and other important research programs that will help wheat growers continue to produce the highest quality crop."
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall says the the fast pace between the bill's introduction and the debate and markup process is great news. "The Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 takes us one step closer to bringing certainty to families who face the toughest farm economy in more than a decade," says Duvall. "We look forward to working with members of both the House and Senate to complete work on a bipartisan, bicameral bill that can be signed into law by the president before the current law expires.”
