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Safety net remains a priority for farmers in 2023 Farm Bill discussions

The ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee says he continues to hear many of the same concerns about the 2023 Farm Bill from farmers and ag industry stakeholders around the country.

John Boozman tells Brownfield protecting the safety net is at the top of their list. “That includes crop insurance and all of our risk management tools,” he says.  “The importance of trade came up, the importance of growing our markets, which we haven’t been doing a very good job of lately, research and conservation.”

He says he’s optimistic the 2023 Farm Bill can be done on time, but farm bills aren’t about partisan politics.  “They’re about regions of the country,” he says.  “Commodities.  Certainly, cotton’s needs are very different than specialty crops.  So it’s just bombing all of those things together.”

And while extensions of the farm bill aren’t uncommon, Boozman says they’d like to get this farm bill wrapped up before the end of the year.  “When you get into next year when you have election-year politics that start to creep up, it just makes it a little bit harder.”

Boozman joined U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a senior member of the Senate Ag Committee, Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles, and Nancy Cox, vice president for land grant engagement and Dean of the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment for a roundtable discussion with farmers and ag industry stakeholders in Lexington, KY on Tuesday. 

AUDIO: U.S. Senator John Boozman

**Photo courtesy of the University of Kentucky**