Farm Bill Has Become More Partisan, Hurting Rural America

It’s almost three years overdue, but could there be movement when it comes to a new Farm Bill. The House passed the Farm Bill, and now the legislation is in the Senate Ag committee, and the issue could be taken up as soon as next week. Former Ag Secretary during the Clinton Administration, Dan Glickman said the adversarial attitudes in Washington D.C. are hurting farm country.

“So, I don't think the end of the world is here, but I do think that farmers and people in rural America are beginning to suffer because there's been so little predictability in farm policy and getting Farm Bills passed on time,” he said.

The Farm Bill Has Become Very Partisan

Glickman, who served as a representative from Kansas for 18 years before becoming the 26th Ag Secretary, noted during much of his time in D.C., the Farm Bill was a fairly consistent piece of legislation, approved every five years. But, as of recent, the Farm Bill has become, as Glickman pointed out, much more partisan for the first time since the Great Depression.

“And the Democrats and Republicans have had different objectives, in many cases, different philosophies on issues like the nutrition programs and environmental issues," Glickman said. "And so it's been really tough and they've gotten stuck. Fortunately, there have been continuations to pre-existing Farm Bill, so there's been money that's come into agriculture, notwithstanding what I've just said.”

In an effort to make the Farm Bill process easier, some have proposed splitting the legislation. Glickman said he’s not a supporter of that idea, noting that 80% of Congress does not represent rural American or farm country.