I’m considering turning off my Google alerts for the phrase “Farm Bill.”
Since the proposed legislation was voted out of committee last week, these have been the headlines from the press:
• Farm Bill advances from U.S. House Ag Panel but faces a tough row to hoe
• Vilsack Says House Proposal Threatens Farm Bill Coalition
• Vilsack Outlines His Opposition to House Farm Bill
• Farm Bill Clears US House Ag Committee, But Likely Won’t Get Widespread Congressional Support as Revision Process Continues This is not an exhaustive list — there are loads more. This is the vibe and media pitch that everyone is inundated with right now. While it’s not wrong to report the ins and outs of the legislative process for something like the Farm Bill, the press tends to focus on the negative. The talking heads seem to focus on the negative. And it’s exhausting to read it all.
I can’t imagine what it’s like having to experience it as a producer trying to make a living when all you hear is:
• “It’s never going to get passed out of the House.”
• “The Senate will never compromise to pass this bill.”
• “It’s going to be extended. There’s no way we have a farm bill in 2024.”
There’s always going to be noise that is irrelevant to action. There is always going to be someone weighing in from the sidelines not doing the work, sitting in the cheap seats issuing opinions without evidence. What’s frustrating, and even a little surprising, is that some of the Monday-morning quarterbacks on the 2024 Farm Bill are in agriculture.
On April 23, 1910, former president Theodore Roosevelt delivered one of the most powerful speeches in U.S. history while touring Europe. That day, 25,000 people packed the streets of Paris to hear him speak.
To sum up, it’s basically a rant on cynics looking down on people who try to make the world a better place. This is my favorite excerpt; taken from a sign I have in my office:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is not effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement. And who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
House Ag Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) is in the arena. There are multiple Representatives and Senators in the arena fighting for farmers with him. And PCG stands with them.
We’ve had talking heads, politicians and some agriculture groups saying there will not be a farm bill this year. That we will have an extension. I mean, it’s bad enough that the media is beating that drum, but even some of our own are adding to the proverbial noise. It’s getting one-sided and loud.
I understand there are challenges and a million tiny pieces that must line up just perfectly right for the 2024 Farm Bill to become law. I understand that the reality on the ground is an uphill battle — hasn’t that been the case with almost every farm bill? What I don’t understand is why some are making it harder for our advocates by agreeing with the obstacles rather than rising above them. The naysayers need to believe.
Because what is told to the press and published on communication channels gets back to our lawmakers. And they need to believe, too. They need a little support and motivation from agriculture to keep fighting the good fight.
Because we have some vocal opponents. Some loud opponents to this House Ag Committee Farm Bill Proposal — including the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Why would anyone feed their noise when we can make our own?
The answer to questions about the farm bill that just passed out of the House Ag Committee is simple: We need this farm bill. It’s a good bill. It’s bipartisan. (There were four democrats that voted it out of committee when all the noise said there might be one.) It provides an actual farm safety net that could do producers and industry alike some real good for the next five years. And we need it because we grow the food and fiber of the world in an abundant and safe way for everyone.
Let’s make some noise as believers.