he farm bill — the roughly-every-five-years law that sets federal policies on agriculture and food assistance — remains stuck in political limbo, even as the current law is set to expire at the end of the month. Wisconsin farmers say uncertainty over the bill isn’t affecting them now, but it could down the line.
While the House bickers over separating food stamp funding from the farm bill, farmers in Wisconsin are going about their daily routines in the midst of harvest season. Paul Wehrs is a West Salem dairy farmer and the president of the La Crosse County’s Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. He says right now, the unpredictable farm bill is not affecting farmers’ day-to day lives. But, Wehrs says, he wants to see a new, five-year bill passed, partially so farmers can plan for next year’s season with certainty. “If the prices are unstable and we don’t know what we can get, it makes lenders nervous. Then farmers go to lenders with a business plan, they can’t be certain they’ll be able to hold up to their end of the deal.”
If Congress chooses to extend the current farm bill, farm subsidies will continue, as well as contentious foreign subsidies. If the legislation expires, there are concerns that grain and dairy prices would go up for everyone, since the subsidies and insurance protections would disappear.
Wisconsin Farmers Union president Darin Von Ruden is a dairy farmer in Westby. He says there’s no reason for the farm bill to expire, since lawmakers have had more than five years to work on it. “It’d be like the farmer who decides not to show up for five years to get his crops put in or milk his cows. We wouldn’t have much of a food chain out here if we waited until the last minute to do everything.” The current farm bill expires on September 30.
