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Future farm bills dependent on broad coalitions

An ag policy expert says the success of future farm bills will rely on coalitions beyond agriculture.

Jonathan Coppess with the University of Illinois tells Brownfield partnerships between the ag community and conservation need to extend to food policy in future farm bills for any major changes to be made.

“Former Chairman Conaway pretty much capitulated on the SNAP program in the House and backed away from that fight to get a bill done, and after the 2013 defeat on the House floor followed up by this struggle this time, this lesson can be reincorporated into farm policy going forward.”   

He says hybrid policies between ag and conservation are easier to comprehend because they can be directly related to each other and used in risk management programs.

“Those sorts of concepts lead the way to this idea of a next generation of farm policy that helps improve the assistance to the farmer and the investment from the taxpayer.”    

He says time will tell which policies in the 2018 Farm Bill will need to be adjusted but expects to see food assistance programs continue to evolve within the legislation.