By Ryan Hanrahan
Politico’s Rachel Shin reported that “ag Republicans say the timeline for getting additional economic aid to farmers is moving too slow, with growers pushed to the financial brink by factors like the Iran war and the trade war with Canada.”
“Republicans want to lump in about $11 billion in direct farm aid with a forthcoming defense spending package. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Thursday that the farm aid would ‘ride along pretty easily if we get that money for the military,'” Shin reported. “But even if that measure clears Congress, there would be a delay before checks hit farmers’ bank accounts, likely around spring of 2027. That might come too late to save some farmers’ businesses after a brutal harvest season amid record-breaking diesel prices.”
“‘If it doesn’t get in the farmers’ hands until 2027, we’re just going to lose a whole bunch more folks,’ Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) told MA,” according to Shin’s reporting. “‘Every day we wait and everything causes more stress and more farm closures.'”
The Hagstrom Report reported that “Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., told The Hagstrom Report on Thursday that he still expects Congress to provide more aid to farmers.”
“Meeting with reporters after the committee forwarded the farm bill to the Senate with a party-line vote, Boozman said the aid is still needed even though provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will kick in at the start of the fiscal year on Oct 1,” Hagstrom reported. “Boozman said that he is looking for ‘a vehicle’ to provide the aid and that he spoken to both Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and White House officials about the need.”
Source : illinois.edu