McKinney: The Challenges Facing a ‘Skinny’ Farm Bill

September 30th is the deadline that lawmakers have to either pass a new “Skinny Farm Bill” or keep “kicking the same can down the road” and continue to extend what’s left of the previous bill.

“Well, the ‘kicking of the can’, so to speak, is entirely within the realm of possibility,” says Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA).

He says that there have been a lot of outside issues facing your lawmakers on Capitol Hill that have been keeping a new “Skinny Farm Bill” from becoming a priority.

“Our best hopes, as an eternal optimist, would be that both the debt ceiling and Farm Bill could get resolved, but that’s really heavy lifting when the numbers between the chambers and between two parties are extremely close,” he says. “Then, on Farm Bill 2.0 this time, it’s it’s going to take 60 votes to pass in the U.S. Senate because this would not be a Reconciliation-type vote where it’s simple majority.”

He also says that it’s quickly becoming too tight of a window to try and pass a new bill.

“When it gets this tight—when there’s so much going on—and then, throw on top of that other things like the strife in Ukraine, it makes for a very congested availability of floor time to get things done,” he says.

But, McKinney adds that the current state of the farm economy may have to force of hands of your lawmakers to make a new “Skinny Farm Bill” a priority after all.

“I never wish for the difficulties of the current farm situation—I never look at that as a positive, but I hope that legislators on both sides are looking at the strife of our farmers right now and will find a way to get this Farm Bill done as soon as possible so there’s certainty. There are so many uncertainties in agriculture and farming in particular, let’s bring some certainty to our farm community—but, it’s going to be difficult,” says McKinney.

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