As the U.S. Senate considers an updated Farm Bill, some South Dakota farmers said the proposal does not do nearly enough.

The U.S. House passed its version April 30. Since then, a coalition of farmers and rural residents from Midwestern states traveled to Washington, D.C., to ask legislators to make changes.

Duane Carlson, a farmer and chairman of Brooklyn Township near Centerville, said the current bill needs a lot of work after years of inaction and continued subsidies for the same programs.

Image

“It really doesn't do the things that we need to do,” Carlson explained. “There needs to be a good hard look at what these dollars are doing and how it's affecting our local farmers.”

Like other members of the coalition, Carlson wants the bill to address SNAP benefits, pesticide labeling, mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef and conservation funding. Congress is supposed to pass a new farm bill every five years. The most recent one passed in 2018.

Carlson cited the Environmental Quality Incentives Program as an example of what he believes needs to change. The program helps farmers implement conservation methods. Carlson pointed out more of the funds have recently gone to investors backing large corporations than to small, first-time farmers.

He argued the offices issuing the money are understaffed, making it easier to write one big check rather than several individual ones. Carlson stressed it hurts local communities.

“Whether it be repairs or the fertilizer or the seed, whatever those local people buy, they buy local for the most part, and those dollars generate a lot of economic impact around that area,” he emphasized.

Carlson hopes the Senate will fix the flaws he sees in the House bill but does not expect major changes and urged people to contact members of Congress before it is too late.

“When everybody tells their story and says, ‘Hey, this is what's happening out here,’ they get a better view rather than from lobbyists that are out there trying to push their own agendas,” Carlson contended. “When you have home farm people out there telling what's happening directly to them, it makes a difference.”

The Senate is expected to debate the farm bill this month. It needs 60 votes to pass, meaning it requires bipartisan support.