Bad Harvest, Good Farm Bill?

There may be a bright side to tough news facing farmers in recent years.

“I think the economic times we’re in, in agriculture, will create more of a sense of urgency out there that we need to have some creative thinking and we need to have a budget to provide a safety net for our providers,” U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told a newspaper in his district.

The three-time farm bill veteran, who is now working on his fourth, said it’s “always hard to pass a farm bill, particularly when you’ve got members of Congress who don’t have ag constituency or farm programs,” but the current reality may expedite the process.

“Most of the farm bills that we’ve written in my time in office have been in a time of good commodity prices, so this is one of the rare times when we’ve got—when we’re kind of in the tank,” Thune said. “So we’re hoping that will at least provide an additional push to get this thing done and maybe allow us to get some new ideas into it.”  Source: The Daily Republic