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Farm bill delays top of mind at PBPC conference

A policy expert says Congress needs to get its act together on the farm bill.

Sam Kieffer, vice president of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says frustration is growing over Congressional gridlock. “It is easy for elected officials in Washington in an election year to focus on what’s best for their party, what’s best for the election.”

He tells Brownfield the ag industry can’t afford another one-year extension of the 2018 legislation. “We need to write a farm bill that is based off today’s environment and no longer kick the can down the road with a farm bill that was written six years ago. Six years doesn’t seem like a long time, but the world has changed.”

Kieffer says farm programs could use a much-needed boost in funding.

He spoke to reporters at the Plant Based Products Council’s annual conference in Omaha, Nebraska on Tuesday.