Bureau sets 2023 Farm Bill priorities

Significant legislation impacting farmers and ranchers is on the calendar next year: the 2023 Farm Bill. “The Farm Bill is an investment in some of the most fundamental elements of a strong country— our food supply,” Booker Young, Bandera County Farm Bureau president, said. “It is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation for agriculture in 2023.”

Booker noted the right package is needed to reduce food insecurity, bolster national security and encourage longterm stability for farm and ranch families.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) released its priorities for the bill. It is among the first national organizations to do so.

The priorities include:

• continuing current farm bill program funding

• maintaining a unified farm bill that includes nutrition programs and farm programs together

• prioritizing risk management tools that include federal crop insurance and commodity programs

• and ensuring adequate USDA staffing and resources to provide technical assistance.

The priorities include more than 60 recommendations over multiple titles of the farm bill.

Those recommendations include reference price increases for commodities, more transparency for milk checks, funding for conservation programs, rural development and streamlining of nutrition programs to get food to those who need it most.

The 2018 package expires next September.

For more information about the farm bill and agriculture, visit fb.org/ farmbill.