WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Agriculture Committee Majority released draft text of its Farm Bill late Friday ahead of a markup this week. For decades, Farm Bills have been negotiated on a bipartisan basis. This time, the Senate Majority has largely gone it alone, reviving many of the same toxic proposals included in the House-passed bill. This draft arrives as farmers face rising costs, uncertainty from the Trump administration's USDA reorganization, staffing shortages at local USDA offices, and increasingly severe droughts and floods.
The following is a statement from Rebecca Riley, Managing Director for Food & Agriculture at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“Trump administration policies, on top of drought and floods, are pushing farmers to the brink. The Farm Bill should help us chart a better path, but the Senate Majority’s draft does little to address these crises in a meaningful way.
“The Senate Agriculture Committee should get back to the bipartisan negotiating table for a Farm Bill that truly meets this moment— one that invests in conservation, preserves our natural resources, and protects public health while feeding American families.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).