House To Hold Farm Bill Hearings Starting Tuesday

The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the ag economy Tuesday, February 6^th, as the committee continues to take steps for the next farm bill.  House Ag Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, said the economic situation now is completely different than it was five years ago.

“It’s not lost on any of us that writing this Farm Bill is dramatically different than what was done in 2014.  2014 was coming off of two or three good years, good yields, good prices, things were relatively good in production agriculture, nothing could be further from the truth today.”

Conaway noted over four years of reduced crop prices a 50% drop in farm/debt income has led to hard times for producers across the nation.  The committee has compiled a draft of the farm bill and is awaiting a cost analysis from the CBO.

Conaway’s office said the draft will be released when all titles of the bill have a score, or price tag, associated with them.  Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue will speak with lawmakers during Tuesday’s hearing.

“He’s done a terrific job over the past year of traveling the countryside going in to homes going in to place and talking to real producers about what struggles they are currently facing, and I look forward to having his wisdom and insight into what we can do," Conaway added.

The current farm bill expires at the end of September.

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