(NAFB.com) – Across rural America, farmers of all kinds of commodities are sending a clear message to Congress: pass a five-year farm bill now, before it’s too late. Congress hasn’t updated the farm bill since 2018. Instead, it’s patched together two year-long extensions that do not address the current economic realities of farming in the U.S. Fourth-generation Minnesota farmer and sugarbeet grower Tim Deal stressed the urgent need for a farm bill during Congressional testimony. “As things stand, the extended 2018 Farm Bill safety net is woefully out of sync with today’s economic realities,” he said. “If Congress doesn’t pass a farm bill that provides meaningful updates to these policies, including sugar policy, many farmers will struggle to find financing for our operations.” He also said the closure of sugar processing facilities in northeastern Montana and Texas should be an urgent wakeup call that we can’t allow U.S. sugar policy to be weakened.
