Vilsack: Pass a Farm Bill Now, or Farmers Won’t Get One

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is coming out swinging this week and warns that if Congress doesn’t pass a farm bill soon, we won’t get one.

Vilsack was blunt with Iowa Farm Bureau Federation attendees on Tuesday, where he said that extending the 2008 farm bill again would be like extending failure and he won’t let it happen.  

The U.S. Senate passed its own version of the farm bill, which Democrats have dubbed the “food and farm bill,” but the House split the bill, passing a farm-only bill excluding nutrition programs, commonly referred to as food stamps.

Many are worried about the likelihood of a new farm bill passing before the extension expires September 30. The National Farmers Union lobby said it believes the farm bill conference won’t begin until October, leaving farmers hanging with yet another expired farm bill extension.

If Congress does not pass a new farm bill by the end of the year, it will revert back to 1949 measure.