Bipartisan decision yet to be made on Farm Bill

An extensive piece of legislation the agricultural world is watching, the Farm Bill, will be up for vote on June 22. At this point, there is no bipartisan decision.

The bill covers a large variety of programs and agricultural matters from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to crop insurance and conservation.

The last Farm Bill was enacted into law in 2014 and expires later this year.

According to Nicole Montna, chairman of the California Rice Producers Group and president and CEO of Montna Farms in Yuba City, programs that expand conservation efforts and crop insurance are extremely important to rice farmers.

“There are programs that protect growers when they have severe market conditions and provide a safety net that can be utilized to get through that severe time,” she said. “…Crop insurance is always an important part of what farmers look at in a farm bill, in 2014 (and) 2015 we had severe droughts that affected the crops.”

Some rice growers, such as Montna Farms, participate in programs that help benefit waterfowl. Montna Farms specifically provides water for waterfowl migrating along the Pacific Flyway. Many rice farmers view these types of conservation efforts as vital to the Farm Bill, Montna said.

“I think that the 2018 Farm Bill won’t be significantly different A heron takes flight over an unplanted rice field at Montna Farms on Sept. 2, 2014 in south Sutter County.