U.S. Sen. John Thune visited with representatives of South Dakota’s agriculture industry to discuss concerns ahead of drafting the 2023 farm bill. The federal farm bill regulates several major agriculture components including commodity prices and supports, nutrition programs and crop insurance.
Sen. Thune welcomed input from a group of ag professionals meeting at the South Dakota Corn Growers Association office in Sioux Falls.
“You know, 80-85% of the money in farm bills is in the nutrition title, but we’re going to be looking at it title by title," Thune said. "And seeing if there are things that we can do that will make production agriculture more prosperous and obviously continue to be the force that it is not only in the economy here in South Dakota, but in driving the economy nationally.”
Thune heard several concerns about changes to crop insurance and the difficulty young farmers are facing with escalating land prices. Other people at the meeting expressed the need for more education opportunities related to financial program eligibility.
The details of the new farm bill won’t be decided until after November’s election. Thune says the exact make-up of the bill will depend on which party controls Congress.
