We know the rural-urban divide is growing larger with the majority of the population now three or more generations removed from a farm or ranch. This fact rang true last month as the 2018 Farm Bill became the latest casualty of this knowledge gap.
Congress failed to pass a farm bill on a 198 for and 213 against vote. It was no small task getting this legislation to a vote; there were over 100 amendments offered to H.R. 2 that had to be dealt with before the final vote could take place. This vote came as a major blow—Farm Bureau worked hard to ensure only amendments we supported were added to the farm bill and kept harmful amendments from being added.
Several of the amendments added to H.R. 2 have a direct impact on Montana agriculture:
- Federal Communications Task Force to review connectivity and technology needs for precisions ag
- Expedited salvage operations for areas burned by wildfire
- Streamlined process for signing up for Agricultural Risk Policy and Price Loss Coverage
- WOTUS repeal