DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley told Local 5 News last week that Congress will likely not pass a new, five-year farm bill before the end of the year.
This means if farmers were to receive any relief before the end of the year, Congress would have to extend the existing farm bill that was originally passed in 2018.
"It's a sad commentary because we need help for farmers because of inflation," Grassley said. "About 20% in seed fertilizer chemicals, diesel and interest rates and machinery parts and all that."
Now, an Iowa farmer says extending the 2018 farm bill, like Congress did last year, wouldn't do enough.
"Price support updates are badly needed," Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman said. "In addition to that, farmers are being asked to do more and more conservation things on their own fields and then their own farms and those need to be updated."
Farm bills provide crop insurance funding, assist programs like SNAP that provide access to food for low-income individuals and support research into new equipment and farming practices.
But with no existing farm bill, as the most recent extension expired earlier this year, farmers are cornered, especially here in Iowa.
Lehman said the 2018 farm bill is outdated in a lot of different ways, and added a new bill needs to match the existing conservation needs of farmers.
Last week, over a dozen Republican governors, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, wrote a letter to congressional leaders for "quick action" to produce a new farm bill.
With a new federal administration coming to the helm next month, Lehman said he and other farmers are preparing to see the effect of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs.
When tariffs were previously implemented quickly, Lehman said the prices farmers received dropped.