As the September 30th farm bill expiration date looms, Lindsey checks back in for a status update with NYFC's National Policy Director, Andrew Bahrenburg. What do the "Fab Four" have to do with farm bill conference negotiations? Will Congress pass a final farm bill in time? And what will happen to the programs young farmers rely on if they don't?
Take action, and tell your Representatives that we need a #farmbillnow. Text "FARM" to 40649 today.
For more about the farm bill programs young farmers rely on:
https://www.youngfarmers.org/2018/09/beginning-farmer-and-rancher-training-programs-in-danger-of-farm-bill-cuts/
https://www.youngfarmers.org/2018/09/young-farmers-rely-on-the-organic-cost-share-program-to-afford-organic-cred/
Episode Transcript
This is the Young Farmers podcast. I’m Lindsey Lusher Shute.
Currently, there is a Senate version of the farm bill, and a House version of the farm bill. And unless they resolve their differences, the farm bill will expire at the end of this month. And that means the Senate and the House are in something called a conference committee to work it out.
And what are the things they have to work out? Well, the House bill would remove an estimated 2 million – yes, 2 million people from federal nutrition programs; the House version would eliminate funding for farmer markets, organic certification, and it would take billions from conservation programs — even as farmers in the West endure one of the worst droughts of their lives. The bill needs to be passed by September 30th, and our representatives are taking recess starting Monday and won’t return until Sept. 25!
Andrew Bahrenburg, our guy on the ground in Washington, was at the first public conference committee meeting last week. Today, he brings us up to date on what happened.
Lindsey: So tell me what happened.
Andrew Bahrenburg:
Yeah. So, it was the first official meeting of the Farm Bill Conference Committee yesterday and they met for about three and a half, four hours. There are 56 members of the conference committee and each of them gets three minutes to make their opening statements. Um, so after, after some longer opening statements from the chair and ranking member of the committees, the so-called “big four,” or as Senator Roberts calls them, the “fab four,” they kind of set the tone. And then from there, each member of the committee got three minutes to basically stake out their priority issues.
Lindsey: Wait, wait, wait–all 57 members got the opportunity to [speak for] three minutes?
Andrew: Every single one. That’s right. A few were in and out from other, you know, I mean Senator Leahy of course, is one of the top Democrats on the judiciary committee. So he was in the Supreme Court confirmation hearing most of the time. So it was mostly ceremonial I would say. Of course, this is not the venue for actual negotiations. This is more the ceremonial pomp and circumstance around the conference committee. So you saw a lot of members, um, you know, getting in their primary talking points about the things they like and the things they don’t like.
Lindsey: So it’s like the opening ceremonies for the conference committee.
Andrew: Exactly.
Lindsey: How do all fifty-some people get beyond their talking points to actually, you know, work this thing out?
Andrew: At the end of the day they really don’t. Right? I mean, I think they will meet as a big group like this. You know, they did yesterday. They likely will at least once more. The main negotiations are happening behind closed doors with the top members of the committee. That’s not really a mystery who will be negotiating the actual brass tacks of this thing. It’ll be Senators Roberts and Stabenow and Congressman Conaway and Peterson, the people who have been really steering this ship from the get go for the last, you know, the better part of two years now.
Lindsey: Who’ve been doing it all along..
Andrew: Mmhmm, and their staff.