Senator John Boozman (R-Ari.) told farmers visiting Capitol Hill that the pending Farm Bill can still be passed this year.

“We are working hard to get a Farm Bill done. I’m very concerned about Prop 12. Chair Stabenow and I have both shared frameworks, and importantly, G.T. Thompson got a bipartisan Farm Bill out of his committee,” he said. “Agriculture needs to stick together … to get this done,” he said.

Boozman, leader of the Republican minority on the Senate Agriculture Committee, addressed about 120 members of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Washington as part of the group’s Fall Legislative Action Conference. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former two-term Democratic governor of Iowa, also addressed the group.

The event was focused on the Farm Bill, including NPPC’s goal that the legislation incorporates a federal override of California’s Proposition 12, which took effect this year requiring pork sold in the state to be raised in larger gestation spaces. NPPC claims that the measure, which was passed in a 2016 referendum but only took effect after years of court challenges, has already raised pork prices by 20% for California consumers. According to an NPPC news release, Vilsack noted that higher prices would make it harder to include pork in government-funded community nutrition programs.

The NPPC legislative event is part of a broader push by agriculture groups for passage of the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill is normally updated every five years, but the last 2018 measure expired in 2023 and was already extended for a year after Congress failed to agree to a full renewal.

Last year’s measure expires with the end federal fiscal year on Sept. 30. In May, the House Agriculture Committee approved a Republican-introduced Farm Bill that won some Democratic support but has since stalled. The five-year, $1.5 trillion measure must still be approved by the full House, where Republicans hold a narrow majority, and faces an uncertain fate in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Major livestock industry groups have voiced support for the House ag committee’s text, but most Democrats have opposed the legislation, which they allege would cut the growth of food aid to low-income families, cripple Commodity Credit Corporation benefits for farmers and processors, and undermine existing climate legislation.

Other issues being raised this month by farm interests — during Congress’ brief autumn session before a break leading into the November elections — include the need for more open trade to facilitate access to foreign markets, and labor shortages plaguing both producers and processors. In a press briefing this week, Iowa hog farmer Rob Brenneman, who is NPPC vice president, described hiring increasing difficulties in federal processing of TN visas for nonimmigrant agricultural workers. “Our food supply will be in huge jeopardy because of the lack of labor to get the job done,” he said.

Senate Ag Committee ranking Republican hopeful for 2024 Farm Bill

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