As partisan fights continue to bedevil action on a new farm bill, a top Senate Republican is raising alarms that Democratic leaders are not prioritizing the legislation.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Tuesday he’s worried the bill seems to have fallen off Senate Democrats’ agenda. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) didn’t include it in a list of priorities for the remainder of the year.
“Farmers desperately need a new five-year farm bill that provides some certainty in an uncertain line of work,” Grassley said in a conference call Tuesday with agriculture reporters.
Grassley, who co-owns a 750-acre farm in his home state and is a member of the Agriculture Committee, wrote to Schumer after the majority leader didn’t mention the farm bill in a letter to colleagues last week outlining 17 items to address in the coming months.
