GREAT FALLS — Congress released a year-end government funding package Tuesday evening, which included proposing a one-year extension of the U.S. Farm Bill, and providing billions of dollars in economic and disaster assistance to farmers and ranchers.
Farmers Union members, as well as other agriculture organizations, spent the past few days putting pressure on their congressional leaders to include this Farm Bill extension.
“Last week, the Farm Bill was largely ignored, and Congress was kind of moving towards recess for the holidays, and hadn't extended the Farm Bill, hadn't put any critical funding in there for emergency relief," Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer said. "So, Montana Farmers Union, National Farmers Union, we sent out an action alert to our members saying, ‘Get a hold of Congress and tell them to not forget about agriculture’”.
Congressional leaders acknowledged that they had been hearing from thousands of farmers all over the country about the importance of extending the 2018 Farm Bill, which expired at the end of September.
With the Farm Bill extension, numerous programs will continue to receive funding, including programs that benefit beginner farmer training, farmers who are transitioning into new crops, and crop insurance.
The government funding package also included an additional $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers struggling from low crop yields, sunken crop prices, and natural disasters.
Schweitzer says prices have been especially low for corn and soybeans, and the additional funding will help family farms and ranches stay afloat.
“Without this critically needed funding,” Schweitzer says, “it could have meant the end of some family farms”.
The short-term extension of the Farm Bill to next September will provide farmers relief for now, but there is a push for Congress to amend and modernize the current Farm Bill.
“Now, we have a proposal to extend the Farm Bill until September 30th of next year, which will give them time to give us an updated Farm Bill, hopefully the right Farm Bill," Schweitzer says.
The U.S. House is expected to vote on the government funding package in the next few days, with a December 20 deadline.
