The continuing resolution President Biden signed last week to keep the federal government running into January included a one-year extension of the Farm Bill. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says that extension will afford Congress plenty of time to sort out that mammoth piece of legislation which is vital to the ag industry and to tens of thousands of family farmers.
While ag groups are expressing gratitude the Farm Bill was extended, there’s also disappointment the new version couldn’t have been passed yet this year, as farmers face significantly higher input costs as well as weather challenges. Grassley isn’t overly concerned that the deadline was pushed back.
The one-year extension provides federal lawmakers a buffer zone, but groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation are pushing them not to delay. One federal estimate earlier this year predicted this would be the first Farm Bill in history to top one-trillion dollars in total spending.
With Sunday’s death of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he has fond memories of the last time he saw the Carters in person. The former president invited Grassley to Atlanta several years back to speak before a group of Southern Baptists about the value of bipartisanship. Grassley says both of the Carters were there to greet him.
Grassley says he does not plan to attend next week’s funeral for Mrs. Carter, who was 96. Former President Carter is 99.
