Failed Farm Bill talks exasperate farmers
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Allies for North Dakota farmers are agitated as lawmakers cannot seem to come together to pass a long-awaited Farm Bill.
The Senate Agriculture Committee failed to advance the legislation last week.
Matt Perdue, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, said the current draft is unlikely to meet all of the challenges farmers may face in the years ahead. However, he noted several areas of progress, like efforts to address consolidation in the fertilizer market, advancing mandatory country-of-origin labeling and expanding year-round E15 fuel access.
“The bottom line is, we need to have bipartisan support to get this across the finish line. We have been working on this bill for three years. In those three years, conditions in the farm economy have eroded, and so yes, we’re frustrated,” Perdue said.
Disagreements over a provision to require states to pay for the SNAP program remain the biggest obstacle. Perdue noted changes made in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” are likely to create challenges for states and people who rely on food assistance benefits. Lawmakers are expected to vote again on the Farm Bill package in September.
Looking ahead, Perdue pointed out his group is already thinking about the next bill and how to strengthen the farm safety net, arguing farmers have become too reliant on temporary, ad hoc assistance, and structural changes are needed to adequately support them in the long run.
“We don’t think that this is necessarily the policy that’s going to get us through the next five years. We think it’s a good policy to advance now while we continue to work on reforms to the farm safety net and other programs,” Perdue said.
The delayed Farm Bill has left North Dakota farmers facing severe financial uncertainty due to outdated safety nets, surging input costs for fertilizer and fuel, and unmodernized reference prices. Perdue underscored bipartisan support has been a foundational requirement since 1933 and the current impasse reflects an unfortunate departure.
“I am less concerned about what we have to learn from this Farm Bill and more concerned about what we’ve forgotten,” Perdue said. “Farm Bills have always required a strong, diverse coalition and ultimately when we get to the next Farm Bill, we have to be very deliberate about making sure that bipartisan support is there.”