Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced that he was carefully watching the progress of the 2013 Farm Bill and expressed hope that both houses of Congress would quickly pass and reconcile the two versions of the bills, finally giving farmers some of the support they’ll need in the coming years.
For most of the previous farm bill process, Secretary Vilsack took an unusually hands off approach to the passage of the farm bill, declining to suggest versions of the bill and allowing Congress to set the pace of farm reform. Despite his somewhat laissez-faire approach, Vilsack has been a tireless crusader on the need of Congress to pass some sort of farm support legislation. For the past six months, he has relentlessly attacked the House and Senate’s inaction of the farm bill.
With the legislative inertia regarding the 2013 Farm Bill finally broken, Vilsack is eagerly awaiting the final ratification of the farm bill. In the process, he has happily added his voice to a growing crowd of agricultural pundits suggesting important aspects of farm policy that the final bill should keep in mind.
Referring to organic farming, Vilsack recently stated, “I think it’s important, as we take a look at how we might rebuild the rural economy and revitalize it. We want to make sure young people have an opportunity to get into the farming business and that can be expensive unless you start small.”
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer