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Farm bill faces long road ahead

The president of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association says he thinks there’s still a chance for a farm bill this year.

“Albeit a slim one.”

Trent Kubik says the Senate Ag Committee’s markup ahead of the August recess left farmers with many questions, and the South Dakota Congressional delegation at Dakotafest emphasized a difficult path ahead.

“It’s gonna be tough. They’re gonna try again it sounds like, in September. But we’ve got long road ahead to get up to get a farm bill done,” he says. “They also pointed out a lot of the farm bill priorities were covered in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

He says there’s not much incentive for lawmakers to finish a farm bill, but corn growers would like to see other provisions make it across the finish line, like nationwide, year-round E15.

Corn farmers in South Dakota would also like to see a base acre update, but the lawmakers on the panel said the regional differences make it hard to include.

“I’m hopeful that good, sound policy can get done at some point. But you know, one thing that the senator did put in the OBBBA, and then, he put it in as an amendment to the farm bill was to lift the cap. There’s 30 million new additional base acres that can be added.”

Kubik says the continued delays are frustrating, and farmers want more certainty from Washington D.C.