By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
An ongoing battle in Washington DC for a new Farm Bill is a key concern for growers ahead of the upcoming corn planting season.
Missouri Corn CEO Bradley Schad says hard work is being done to make sure a new farm bill can be passed this year.
"Most likely, if anything passes, it will be in lame duck session, we want to get it done before then and we're going to do everything we can to get it done before then, "Schad tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "But the challenges that we're facing that we see, the dysfunction that we see in DC, has been difficult."
Schad says, though, members of Missouri’s Congressional delegation, including Mark Alford and Sam Graves, continue fighting to help get a new Farm Bill passed this year.
Schad says unfortunately due to dysfunction in Washington DC they were unable to get a new farm bill passed last year.
"We got an extension which is a good thing in 2023, and we need to get a new Farm Bill passed so we're working on that," Schad explains
Schad says there are many updates they want to see in a new farm bill, but one thing that should not be changed is crop insurance
"We'd have to make sure that no changes happen there, our farmers are very happy where they're at," Schad points out.
Schad says of the many updates that the organization hopes to see in the farm bill, including an increase in trade funding which helps farmers sell to foreign countries
"We just haven't seen an increase, and as you know inflation is high right now and has been for the last couple years, and if we're going to stay up to speed and make sure that our farmers are going to be at those tables across the world that we can continue trading, we have to have the dollars to be able to do that," Schad says. "We haven't seen an increase in many, many years."
Schad says they continue to work with their partners, like the Missouri Soybean Association or Cotton Farmers, to make sure something gets passed this year.