The BBB Was Good, But Washington Farmers Need More

The Farm Bill extension is set to expire at the end of the month.  While many portions of the Farm Bill were addressed in the Big, Beautiful Bill, there are still some gaps that farm country needs addressed.

Michelle Hennings, Executive Director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers said there were many positives in that reconciliation bill.

“One being enhanced commodity safety net with our ARC and PLC programs," Hennings noted.  "They've modernized crop insurance, which is one of our number one priorities.  They also put money into market development and export expansion.  So, there was a lot of good things in that bill that got passed that will modernize those programs for farmers.   But we are still really pushing for a Farm Bill 2.0, or as you say, a mini Farm Bill.

"One of the items that weren't included in this is the CRP program, the Conservation Reserve Program," Hennings continued.  "As you know, Washington State utilizes that program pretty heavily to comply with our state water, air quality standards. And so It's really important that we keep educating congressional delegation that we still need this Farm Bill 2.0 to pass.”

To encourage lawmakers in D.C. to stay focused on that Farm Bill, members of the Association will participate in a fly-in, to stress that there are programs that are still vital that haven’t been addressed or passed.

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