Schweitzer: Budget reconciliation bill breaks rural-urban coalition

While the recently passed budget reconciliation bill has many highlights for farmers, it also undercuts the rural-urban coalition that has underpinned comprehensive Farm Bills in the past, Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer said.

“The recently passed budget reconciliation bill has some good, some bad, and a lot of ugly,” Schweitzer said.

Increases to funding for commodity and insurance subsidies are welcomed by farmers.

However, key changes related to income requirements in the budget reconciliation bill include eliminating the adjusted gross income limit of $900,000 for certain farm operations and raises per-person payments limits and allows for new exemptions for pass through entities, which could lead to unlimited payments for large corporate farms, Schweitzer said.

With a comprehensive Farm Bill still not reauthorized, more than $300 billion in cuts to food nutrition programs and more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and Medicare jeopardize the the rural-urban coalition that has pushed farm bills across the finish line in the past.

“This bill puts our most vulnerable community members and crucial legislative relationships at risk to do little more than further bloat our budget. Montana Farmers Union will continue to work diligently with lawmakers on behalf of family farmers and ranchers to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill,” Schweitzer said.