The House Agriculture Committee yesterday passed out of committee the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R.2), critical legislation to address the economic challenges facing the nation’s farmers and ranchers, while making historic investments in opportunities for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. U.S. Reps. Kristi Noem (R-SD), Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), John Moolenaar (R-MI) and members of the U.S House Agriculture Committee introduced the bipartisan draft of the 2018 Farm Bill on April 12.
In a release from Rep. Noem, she stated, “The bill incorporates many of my proposals, including a strengthened commodity program, an improved CRP payment formula and improved protections for farmers with wetlands.” Rep. Noem invites feedback on the bill at noem.house.gov/FarmBill.
The Farm Bill makes up roughly two percent of all federal funding, according to a statement from Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson’s (R-PA) office, but 80 percent of total Farm Bill spending goes toward nutrition programs. The bill also supports farmers, ranchers and consumers through commodity programs, agricultural research, trade and rural development and also contains some provisions for rural opioid programs, telehealth and community facilities development. The bill gets renewed every five years.
