(Missourinet) – Congress reconvenes next week and faces a tight deadline with the still-unfinished Farm Bill.
U.S. Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., 4th District, said finding time to debate the farm bill on the House floor will not be easy.
“A lot of things expire in September, and when we get back, we will be concentrating on these appropriation bills,” Alford told Missourinet affiliate KDRO. “So it’s about finding time on the House floor, essentially, to debate and pass the farm bill. We may be looking at a slight extension on that.”
Alford said the farm bill will likely contain approximately $864 billion in federal spending, stretched out over five years. It includes programs such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, historically known as food stamps. However, he emphasized that the bill is also crucial for farmers and ranchers in Missouri to stay in business.
“Our farmers need the security to be able to purchase crop insurance and obtain the loans they need for their fertilizer, seed, and fuel,” Alford said. “The cost of these has been rising at an alarming rate.”
Alford partly blames the rising costs on the Biden Administration’s “demonization of the fossil fuel industry.” Congress has until September 30 to get the farm bill to the president’s desk.
