What Lubbock producers want to see on the 2023 Farm Bill

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Since the 2018 Farm Bill is expiring this year, a Lubbock crop organization is working to get the bill improved to benefit producers.

Kara Bishop with Plains Cotton Growers says the five-year farm bill impacts every American.

Since producers have struggled financially the past couple of years her team wants to make sure the 2023 Farm Bill will protect the producers.

“They feed and cloth the nation, so farm policy helps them continue to do that,” Bishop said.

So, Plains Cotton Growers has been working closely with Congressman Jodey Arrington on this funding as he stepped into his new role as chair of the House Budget Committee.

“Since 2018, we’ve spent about $70 billion in ad-hoc disaster assistance. So, we’d like to see that funding captured and put into the base line for 2023. Have a strong disaster component to the farm bill so that producers can get the assistance they need,” she said.

Bishop says the farmers struggled getting a crop, meaning those gins struggled to pay the bill because business was slow.

“They haven’t been as busy,” she explained. “Production was suffering this year, it was better than expected in a lot of areas, but they still didn’t gin as many bales, some of them weren’t able to run at all.”

Bishop says producers need to get the word out about why a strong farm bill is necessary since nearly 200 members in the House of Representatives and more than 20 senators have never worked on a farm bill.

“It’s important that we educate them and everyone else about how important strong farm policy is to our producers here,” she said.

She says a good farm bill is meant to help keep producers afloat to continue providing for the country.

Copyright 2023 KCBD. All rights reserved.