U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said he was disappointed the House failed to pass a farm bill before it expired on Sept. 30. And he isn't buying House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's excuse that there wasn't enough time and there weren't enough votes to pass the farm bill.
Vilsack told a group of about 125 dairy producers and agribusiness people that he isn't buying Cantor's excuse about why he couldn't pass a farm bill.
"The Senate passed the farm bill in June with bipartisan support, It was about the only thing the Senate has been able to get passed in the last two years," Vilsack said.
Vilsack said the House had both the time and the votes to pass a farm bill, but House leadership didn't want to deal with all the cuts the House's version of the farm bill calls for right before the election.
AG CHIEFS: Wisconsin Ag Secretary Ben Brancel, left, listens as U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks to about 125 dairy producers and agribusiness people at World Dairy Expo on Tuesday morning.
"The House managed to get the farm bill through their Ag Committee. Then, they couldn't get it through the House," he explained. "They (House leadership) said they didn't have enough time to pass the farm bill. But they were only scheduled to work eight days in September and they left town before they used up all eight days. They also failed to take a vote. We figure there would have been about 250 votes in the House – enough votes to have passed the farm bill. So they had the time and they had the votes. They just didn't want to pass the farm bill. Their version of the farm bill called for $184 billion in cuts over the next decade -- $50 billion for ag and $134 billion for food programs -- and that's a conversation they didn't want to have right now."
As a result, Vilsack says farmers and rural communities are paying the price.
"So we're stuck with no MILC Program and no Dairy Export Assistance Program, and there is no Beginning Farmer Programs no Conservation Programs that can take place," he said. "That's pretty significant stuff, but we can't do anything."
If the House doesn't pass a farm bill by the end of the year, then Vilsack said we will revert back to the 1949 Farm Bill.
"Under the 1949 Farm Bill, milk prices would climb to between $38 and $50 per hundredweight. That may sound good, but it will have a rippling effect and will impact consumer choices. Companies will reformulate their products without dairy or will use less dairy and consumers will buy less dairy. So, really, dairy farmers do not want that to happen."