Duvall: We Need A New Farm Bill Now

The American Farm Bureau Federation is hopeful Congress will enact the 2018 Farm Bill before the September 30^th deadline.  Given the glut of issues farmers are facing, AFBF President Zippy Duvall says agriculture needs timely passage of the bill.

“We’re facing a perfect storm, where we don’t have a new Farm Bill yet, we have labor issues on the farm, commodity prices are low, and then we have negative influence from the tariffs that are out there.  So, farmers need some certainty in their future, and the Farm Bill plays a major role in bringing some certainty to rural America.”

Duvall said the 2018 Farm Bill includes critical risk management tools that will give agriculture stability during tough economic times.

“One of the most important things about the 2018 Farm Bill are the risk management tools that are going to be available to our farmers," Duvall said.  "In a very vulnerable market, they can take out crop insurance to protect them from risks that they might have in the marketplace, or with extreme weather conditions.”

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