Congress rushed Friday to provide farmers billions of dollars in weather-related disaster assistance and economic relief, but a longer-term arrangement to avoid such scrambles continues to elude lawmakers.
The $30.8 billion in disaster assistance — a key part of the year-end legislation lawmaker advanced to avert a partial shutdown — proves not only that farmers need the help, but longer-term alternatives to ad hoc aid need to be part of a five-year farm bill next year, people involved in those discussions said.
House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said the brinkmanship around the stopgap funding bill, or continuing resolution, shows that farmers need disaster programs that can quickly operate outside of last-minute congressional fights over spending.
As the fight over the year-end legislation dragged on, Thompson told reporters, “We know that there are farmers and ranchers being turned down for access to credit right now as we stand here, which means they’re not going to farm next year.
