These days, some folks in Washington can turn anything into a political food fight – especially in an election year. In this case it is a literal food fight, as a good farm bill is about providing an adequate safety net for our farmers and food security for all our citizens.
But with the farm bill set to pass the Senate before the September deadline, as a farmer, I am hopeful that we will have a new farm bill in place when the current bill expires. It’s much needed, given the current low commodity prices, uncertain weather, and the House’s farm bill debacle last month, which left North Dakota farmers worried about getting a new farm bill in place.
Instead of allowing partisan ideologues to run the show, the Senate is taking a different approach – relying on common sense compromise among senators to step up and get the bill written and passed. While the House effort got hijacked and derailed over a completely unrelated immigration vote, the Senate looks poised to deliver a farm bill for North Dakotans by using a tried-and-true method: putting politics aside and working across the aisle. Credit where credit is due – thanks to both Sens. Hoeven and Heitkamp for their efforts on the Senate agriculture committee to deliver for America’s farmers. I’m glad some people in Washington are still interested in getting things done. Farm bills have always been done in a bipartisan manner and this one should not be an exception.
Linderman lives in Carrington, N.D.
