Farm Bill Newhouse Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit
Grower Report. So, whether we’re going to get a new farm bill this year depends on who you talk to, with many in the ag sector saying there needs to be more “farm” in the farm bill.
But U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says he likes the House version that recently passed out of committee …
NEWHOUSE … “You touched on I think what’s kind of the classic confrontation in the farm bill. One side wants more money for the food assistance programs and the other side wants more money for the agricultural industry.”
But Newhouse does think the scales are tipped …
NEWHOUSE … “You know, the farm bill overall spends, I think, something like $1.4 Trillion dollars. That’s a huge number. $1.1 Trillion of that goes toward food programs.”
Which, Newhouse says is also a huge number …
NEWHOUSE … “So, my question is, how much is enough? You know, how much more can we provide for some of those programs, which are important, no argument there. But I think we’re doing a lot. You know, we want to feed people. We want to make sure that we combat hunger in the United States, absolutely. And I think we do a lot of things to make that happen, towards that goal.”
But having both, Newhouse says would be nice …
NEWHOUSE … “You know, we have a finite amount of resources available to us and we need a strong agricultural industry as well.”
Tune in tomorrow and hear more from Newhouse on the effort in Congress to get a farm bill done this year.
