Grassley says Farm Bill will be extended into 2025

WASHINGTON — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds was among 17 Republican governors who sent a letter this week to Congress urging them to reauthorize the Farm Bill this month as well as approve immediate assistance for farmers who have been hit by severe weather that’s destroyed crops and killed livestock. The governors say they are concerned for the future of rural America and if meaningful support is not provided soon, the well-being of the nation is at risk.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says an extension of the current Farm Bill will be addressed before the end of the year. “A week from Friday, December the 20th, everything’s got to be done by then. It will be what we call a continuing resolution that will put the final budget decisions into the new Congress. I don’t think that’s wise procedure, but I believe the politics of the House of Representatives dictates that.”

Grassley doesn’t think the Farm Bill and other budget issues should be kicked down the road for the Trump administration.  “I’d rather have a new president get all of this old business not have it on his platter. It ought to be the responsibility of this Congress and this president to finish that. This extension of the Farm Bill will be part of that decision that we call a continuing resolution.”

A one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill expired on September 30th. Congress must vote by the end of the year for another extension or federal farm payment programs revert to rules established in 1938 and 1949.