WASHINGTON — National Farmers Union (NFU) today sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), urging the committee to make key improvements to the farm bill as it prepares to debate the legislation this week.
In the letter, NFU President Rob Larew acknowledged progress in the bill’s most recent draft, including the permanent, year-round authorization of E15, but warned that the legislation as currently written falls short of what family farmers and ranchers need.
“After years of delays, family farmers and ranchers need a bipartisan farm bill that addresses today’s challenges and strengthens our food system for the future”, wrote Larew. “But as currently drafted, the legislation does not rise to meet the challenges family farmers are facing.”
In a separate letter, NFU joined the American Farm Bureau Federation in urging committee leadership to support an amendment from Senator Grassley (R-IA) to codify the USDA’s recently finalized Packers and Stockyards Act rules.
NFU urged committee leaders to keep working through these issues so the bill can earn broad support from producers and consumers and pledged to work with the committee to ensure the final legislation delivers meaningful support for family farmers and ranchers.
Read the full letter here.
