The 2012 Farm Bill: Uncertain future as House fails to act

A spokesperson for House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) said they have thrown in the towel on any farm bill action in the House before the November election.

The September 30 expiration date of the current farm bill will be allowed to come and go with no action at all from the House. But many farm and rural groups continue to make an urgent call for renewal and reform.

While your U.S. Representative is at home for final campaigning before the November 6th elections, you may want to send him or her a clear and straightforward message:

Comments

Response to Mr. Usher NCRLC | Monday, September 17, 2012

Thank you for your comment. Perhaps to help clear any confusion, we are not supporting the Farm Bill as is, but calling for necessary reforms so that control and choices can return to local farming communities. We invite viewers to learn more about our advocacy efforts at our web section on Agriculture & Food: Focus on 2012 Farm Bill (http://www.ncrlc.com/page.aspx?ID=44). The specific farm and rural development programs we advocate return control to farmers and groups at the local and state levels. You are right to point out, though, that more social action is needed to curb the power of large corporate farming interests. NCRLC will continue to work with sustainable agriculture groups to this end.

Tom Usher | Sunday, September 16, 2012

I guess I’m just confused. Your site says that you believe in the idea of subsidiarity yet you’re supporting a farm bill that consolidates power in Washington and is mostly controlled by large corporate farming interests. Why aren’t you pushing for an end to this sort of top down approach and instead working to return power to the local farming communities? All of the reasons you give for supporting this bill in the statement above could be adequately addressed at the local or state level. It seems like you’re not following your own stated objectives.