News

House ag chair Thompson backs Senate farm bill draft, eyes summer pre-conference

The chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee says he’s supportive of a farm bill draft that’s been released in the U.S. Senate.

Glenn “GT” Thompson from Pennsylvania says it looks different from the House’s farm bill, because Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman needs to secure enough votes.

“They may leave some things out that are priorities of mine, perhaps like Prop 12,” he says. “I’ve seen a lot of discussions. They’re trying to find a some champions on Prop 12 in the in the Senate. This is a process I think Senator Bozeman is navigating rather well.”

Thompson says he’s interested to see what changes are made as the bill is marked up in the U.S. Senate Ag Committee, expected in mid-to-late July.

“If they can do this, get the Senate rolling later in July, that would be perfect because we could pre-conference during August and we get back in September, maybe into the lame duck session.”

He says there’s plenty of time to get a farm bill across the finish line before that, and Thompson says he’ll be chairing the conference committee.