Washington, DC — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says prospects for congressional approval of a new Farm Bill are fading.
The Democrat who’s chairwoman of the Senate Ag Committee released a framework for negotiations last week, but Grassley, a Republican, says the most likely outcome is that Congress will vote to extend current Farm Bill policies for another year.
Disagreements over farm subsidies are holding up negotiations.
The rest of the Farm Bill is mainly for food stamps and other government nutrition programs. Grassley says Senate Democrats have proposed a five percent increase to potential subsidies to cover rice, cotton and peanut farmers’ losses. However, the so-called reference prices for corn and soybeans that trigger federal subsidies to cover losses would remain the same.
The one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill expires at the end of September.
