When Congress gets back from recess after the holidays, they will be hard at it to pass another farm bill. Will they complete it on time?
Ed Elfman heads ag and rural banking at the American Bankers Association.
?In 2018, there will be a farm bill out of the House of Representatives. Timing is unsure at this point. Chairman Conaway would like to get one done today or tomorrow if he could?ve. That being the case, we will see it go through the mark up process,? Elfman says.
Elfman says he doesn?t see many changes but on the long side, there will be.
?The ARC and PLC programs are not going to have tremendously huge changes in my opinion. Cotton will. Cotton needs to be fixed and dairy needs to be fixed. Whatever comes out of the House will determine what the Senate package looks like,? Elfman says.
He doesn?t think the Senate is as inclined as the House to get a farm bill done this year.
?I shouldn?t say this year. I should say by September 30 which is the end of the fiscal year. A big part of that is Senate politics. You have a lot of rural Democrat Senators running for re-election. A farm bill is an easy way for them to say they?re compromising,? Elfman.
Elfman heads ag and rural banking at ABA.
