News

House Ag Committee member backs priorities as farm bill work expected to pick up

A member of the House Ag Committee says he’s reaffirming his priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill as lawmakers continue to draft the legislation.

Don Bacon, Republican from Nebraska, says once the bill comes to the floor, he hopes there won’t be a significant number of amendments proposed. “I think we learned our lesson. You can’t allow a few people to control everything.”

He tells Brownfield there are two areas at the top of his list. “The most important thing in the farm bill we want affordable crop insurance.  We also want trade promotion and promote our product overseas.”

And, Bacon says, he’d like to see an increase in funding for research at land-grant universities like the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “We have a lot of research capabilities here.  It makes a big difference for things like African Swine Fever, foot-and-mouth disease and crop stuff that we’ve learned through research.”

He expects the 2023 Farm Bill to finished in early 2024.