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Senate Ag Committee passes its version of the Farm Bill

Posted at 3:37 PM, Jun 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-13 17:37:42-04

On Wednesday, the United States Senate Agriculture Committee passed its version of the Farm Bill, which is the first step in the passage process for the Senate.

The Ag Committee will now take the bill to the floor of the Senate. Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, who is also on the Ag Committee, has promised floor time by the Fourth of July.

Lola Raska, the Executive Vice President of the Montana Grain Growers Association, said it was important for the bill to pass although they didn’t get everything they wanted.

She said they will continue to work with Senator Steve Daines, who is also on the Ag Committee. Raska is hopeful the House will have its version of the farm bill by June 22.

If both houses decide to pass the Farm Bill, they will move to a conference committee to work out the differences between the two versions.

Many Montana ag producers are concerned about what will happen with the Farm Bill because it’s such an important program.

Lola Raska said, “It provides them some certainty, some predictability going forward. Some of the most important programs to our producers are the commodity title, which provides a strong safety net, crop insurance very important to our growers. Both of those programs moved forward largely unchanged in the senate farm bill.”

She added there are still plenty of steps to take before a final bill is passed.

If something doesn’t happen before the current Farm Bill expires on September 30, they will have to go into an extension process.

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