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The search continues for more farm bill funds

Ag lobbyist Randy Russell with the Russell Group says there’s still no new money for farm bill updates and lawmakers have some difficult decisions to make.

“Those are the spending spending decisions for the spending reductions to pay for increases in priority programs. That’s where the rubber hits the road and where we’re at now.”

He tells Brownfield Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member John Boozman still wants to raise reference prices in the commodities title.

“They’ll have to find money from some other area to fund that. It’s a high priority for him and a few other members and we’ll see how this plays out.”

Russell says even if lawmakers can’t find the savings to make those changes, he is optimistic the next farm bill can make it through a divided Congress. And he says an extension of the current legislation is expected at the month to buy more time for the new bill to get across the finish line.