The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, more commonly referred to as the Farm Bill, passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry by a tally of 20-1 last Friday and Georgia farmers are pleased with its contents.
U.S. Senator David Perdue, a member of the Agriculture Committee, worked to include a number of provisions that should benefit the state’s farmers and agricultural workers.
The bill includes provisions such as an extension of the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program which protects peanut and cotton farmers, as well as more localized additions such as the Chattahoochee Oconee Land Adjustment Act, a pet project of Perdue that will create a more contiguous national forest through the northern part of the state.
It also includes several reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or as it is more commonly known, food stamps. By installing a verification system to prevent fraud and a work training requirement, it digs into an issue long seen by Republicans as a priority. The House version of the bill got bogged down and eventually failed due to efforts to more strongly reform SNAP, though it is expected to be re-introduced this week.
Said Perdue on the legislation:
“Agriculture is Georgia’s top industry. Growing up working on my family’s farm, I learned that agriculture is both a business and a way of life. For years, I’ve been meeting with farmers across Georgia and stakeholders in the agriculture industry to see how we can make life easier for them to do their jobs. While this Farm Bill is far from perfect and there is more work to do, we are taking steps toward providing certainty and continuity to rural America.”
The bill will now go before the full Senate, where it is expected to pass due to its bi-partisan support. While the House still has much work to do, some form of the Farm Bill needs to be passed by September, when the current version expires.
