From the Ground Up: Washington continues work on Farm Bill

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Every five years lawmakers work to update the Farm Bill, but the name can be misleading.

The Farm Bill covers crop insurance, education and more for working farmers and ranchers, but it also contains SNAP benefits and climate restrictions. The vast array of topics covered in the bill have lawmakers at odds, but researchers at Texas A&M are working to make sure the work of farmers and ranchers isn’t forgotten in that fight.

“We’ve got an integrated ag industry in this country that’s the envy of the world,” said Bart Fishcher with the Texas A&M Agricultural & Food Policy Center. “We have farmers, extraordinary farmers and ranchers, in this country who take risks every day to put food on our tables. We could have both of those and we could still have a train wreck if we didn’t have sound policy in place that was underpinning all of it and ensuring that growers could keep doing what they do.”

The Farm Bill is vital to farmers and ranchers, according to Fischer, and the policy center helps Congress understand that work.

“The thing we are known for is evaluating the farm-level impacts of agricultural policy,” Fischer said. “So how do the decisions that are made in Washington, DC impact the people out on the ground? And we’re the group that is tasked with doing that.”

Farming is a risky business, and the Farm Bill provides a safety net.

“What other industry do you receive your income at one point, you know, potentially one day or one week, right during harvest, it all comes at once? So we have all of these timing challenges that are unique, which also then means all the other risks that we face can also intersect with that,” Fischer said. “I can have my entire income wiped out at once, right? And so yes, agriculture is a lot like small business, but it also faces a lot of other very unique risks.”

Aid for farmers makes up just one portion of the Farm Bill. Most of it makes sure low income families have access to healthy food.

“We’ve looked at the balance between those things and we’ve arrived at the point now where it is 83% in SNAP, the old food stamp program,” Fischer said.

Balancing those two issues has led to a gridlock in Washington.

“A perfect example that’s coming home to roost right now on the farm bill is what is the what is the appropriate mix, right between support to growers and support to, you know, Americans who can’t afford, you know, can’t afford the meal, you know, to buy a meal, to put on their plate,” Fischer said.

Fischer is optimistic Congress will work to find a deal that values both farmers and consumers.

“We have, again, most abundant, most affordable, most abundant and safest and most affordable food supply on the planet because of policies we’ve had in place and because of risk-taking on the part of farmers and ranchers across this country,” Fischer said.

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