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Farm Bill defeated in first House vote, but negotiations continue

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Last week, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) called on its members to contact their United States representative and ask they vote against poison pill amendments that would potentially kill the 2018 farm bill. While the potentially disastrous amendments were defeated, the momentum was not enough to overcome Democratic opposition to pass the farm bill on the House floor Friday.

H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, otherwise known as the farm bill, failed to secure passage by a vote of 198 to 213. With all Democrats voting against the bill due primarily to objections against Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reforms and opposition from Republicans of the Freedom Caucus demanding a vote on an immigration bill, the farm bill faced an uphill battle for its first House vote.

Shortly after the vote, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) made a motion to reconsider the vote after negotiations in order to secure additional support for passage. To secure votes from Democrats, significant changes will need to be made to nutrition program reforms, including the increased work and training requirements for program recipients that are opposed by Democrats. To secure votes from members of the Freedom Caucus, Republican leadership would have to first weigh forcing a vote on an immigration bill that may not have enough support to pass at this time.

The Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 largely reflects current law, with some improvements to Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), an increase in CRP acreage, restored funding of trade promotion programs, including FMD, increased individual FSA loan limits, a significant investment in animal disease preparedness and response, and fully protecting crop insurance—all bipartisan goals that were championed by MCGA early on.

MCGA and its partners in Washington will continue to follow negotiations in the coming weeks as leadership works to secure additional votes for a House vote that reportedly could happen in June.

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