The appointment of a conference committee to negotiate a final Farm Bill was "apparently good news" for agriculture and rural lobbies, but the larger story is a change in the structure for making decisions on those issues, devaluing the House Agriculture Committee, "and this is
a major setback for ag and rural interests," Charles "Chuck" Fluharty, president and CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute, writes for Agri-Pulse.
"This fact will probably be
little discussed publicly, for fear of political reprisal," writes Fluharty, left. "Most
advocates remain in denial regarding this subtle usurpation of historic
Ag Committee standing; and, given the great relief that any conference
is actually occurring, much will be overlooked. But this conference has
been out of the actual control of the House chairman and ranking [Democratic] member
for some time, as much has been unfortunately framed to a large degree
by differences between leadership perspectives within the U.S. House,
and reflective of the far deeper ideological differences which reside
there."
Fluharty notes that the federal-government shutdown and lack of a Farm Bill are keeping South Dakota ranchers from getting aid to deal with the aftermath of last week's blizzard, preventing rural entrepreneurs and first-time homebuyers from closing loans, and leaving "poor rural children and families left without critical child care or nutrition programs. . . . The tragedy for rural America is that so many of the congressional members who have supported this shutdown are doing so with the understanding that their rural constituents are ideologically behind them, and support their actions. This may have been so from a safe distance, with the excitement of the ideological war and easy victory before them. Hubris, once again. However, the reality of battle, its actual chaos and costs create new urgencies, far more pressing. Hopefully, these lessons are now being learned." (Read more)
Fluharty notes that the federal-government shutdown and lack of a Farm Bill are keeping South Dakota ranchers from getting aid to deal with the aftermath of last week's blizzard, preventing rural entrepreneurs and first-time homebuyers from closing loans, and leaving "poor rural children and families left without critical child care or nutrition programs. . . . The tragedy for rural America is that so many of the congressional members who have supported this shutdown are doing so with the understanding that their rural constituents are ideologically behind them, and support their actions. This may have been so from a safe distance, with the excitement of the ideological war and easy victory before them. Hubris, once again. However, the reality of battle, its actual chaos and costs create new urgencies, far more pressing. Hopefully, these lessons are now being learned." (Read more)
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