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Will this farm bill help?

Will the House farm bill being debated this week bring real help to the slumping ag economy? 

“Overall, though, probably not as much as we would like.”

Gary Schnitkey, farm management specialist with the University of Illinois, says while the legislation does extend some important programs, it fails to address larger economic issues.

“Overall, I think we have to be thinking about getting demand to increase,” he says. While potential inclusion of E15 legislation is a good start, Schnitkey doesn’t believe it’ll be a savior.

Jonathan Coppess, farm bill historian and director of the Gardner Agricultural Policy Program at the University of Illinois, agrees.

“There’s important programs for rural communities and research and those sorts of things.”  He says, “But no, there’s nothing that’s built in that I think is going to help the challenges we’re facing in the short term, and it certainly is not focused on the long-term issues.”

He tells Brownfield…

“Highlighting this is the constant churn for more ad hoc payments. The policy is not working.”  He says, “Missing an opportunity like this to reconsider what farmers really need is a really big, important missed opportunity.”

AUDIO: Jonathan Coppess – University of Illinois