Bill Armbrust, a farmer in Elkhorn for over 50 years, said he's never seen the industry this close to another farming crisis.

The last farming crisis was in the 1980s where an estimated 300,000 U.S. farmers lost their land or went bankrupt.

Armbrust said that the current Farm Bill is outdated and doesn't cater to current farmers and needs to be updated.

"I'm completely in support of the farm bill," Armbrust said. "Government support through crop insurance and through support systems, through Farm Service Agency and other USDA, USDA agencies is extremely important to us. It is part of the foundation of having a farm or a ranch, to be able to succeed or even sustain itself today."

The last fully enacted Farm Bill was the Agriculture Improvement Act, signed into law in December 2018. That bill expired in 2023 and has since operated under temporary extensions.

In April, the House passed its version of the bill, the Food and National Security Act. It is the first new Farm Bill framework in nearly eight years. Congressman Mike Flood said it addresses crop insurance, strengthens market access, and invests in agricultural research and USDA rural development.

"We passed a basic clear on extension of the crop insurance program that is predictability for our farmers, and that is something that they have wanted since we started the discussion on the farm bill," Flood said. "When I talked to [farmers], it's been very important."

Congressman Flood said the new House-passed bill is changing provisions to permanently authorize year-round E15 ethanol sales.

"The fact that the E15 year-round got into the farm bill and was sent over to the Senate was a huge win," Flood said. "That is the number one goal: it would create more demand for ethanol and higher prices for corn."

Congressman Flood said immediate financial assistance to farmers is also being considered as language in the bill included $10 billion in immediate economic assistance. The money remains stalled in the Senate unless it is picked up by lawmakers during the end-of-year lame-duck session.

Armbrust said he was in Washington D.C., lobbying before the Senate vote to voice his own concerns about ethanol.

"To get more ethanol involved in, in our fuel being used on the, on the roads, and with fuel prices being so high, it's even more important that we take a look at getting up to 30% eventually of our gasoline mix being part being ethanol, Armbrust said. "That flows right back into usage of our corn."

Armbrust is hopeful that the new Farm Bill will be passed.

"I believe that our senators from Nebraska and the other senators," Armbrust said. "When they came back into session that that the farm bill will get passed."

The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its version of the bill in September, but the full Senate has not passed it.

Source - https://www.ketv.com