From the Ground Up: Upcoming Farm Bill split down party lines
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Former Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Collin Peterson, keeps his eye on Washington and on the looming Farm Bill.
Increasingly, he says, partisan politics are at play as both sides dig in.
“We’ve got the greatest system in the world, there’s no question,” he explained. “We’ve just got to hang on to it.”
Working in the Ag sector has been a significant part of his political career. Nowadays, he says, fewer committee members possess agricultural backgrounds than ever before.
“You know, you’ve got over half of the Ag Committee in the House [who] have no farm background whatsoever that are making the decisions.”
Regarding political gamesmanship in the Agricultural arena, he says it’s a recent development, and also, a surprising and unnerving one.
“The polarization that’s happened is a big problem,” he said. “We’ve always kept that out of agriculture. It worries me.”
Peterson’s hope is that a spirit of bipartisanship will ensure farmers and ranchers do not go unprotected. After all, he says, the stakes are high.
“We’ve been lucky in this country, lucky that we have people who are doing what they’re doing in agriculture. It’s hard work! We’re lucky to have these people, and the American people and the consumers are lucky to have the choices they have.”
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