Shoffner Calls for Senate Vote on Farm Bill Before September 30 Deadline
LITTLE ROCK — Following Wednesday’s 12-11 Senate Agriculture Committee vote to advance the Farm Bill, U.S. Senate candidate and sixth-generation Arkansas farmer Hallie Shoffner called on the full Senate to take up the legislation before the current Farm Bill extension expires September 30.
“Arkansas farmers and families have waited long enough. Getting the Farm Bill out of committee is progress, but it means little if the Senate leaves town without a vote. Farmers need certainty before this extension expires, not another promise to come back and deal with it after the election.
“I would have voted to advance this bill. I understand why Democrats are fighting for a two-year delay in the new SNAP cost-sharing requirements, and I share their concern. This matters in Arkansas. Under the current structure, our state could be forced to shoulder millions of dollars in additional SNAP costs while states with even higher error rates are given more time. That does not make sense, and it needs to be fixed.
“But holding up the entire Farm Bill does not fix that problem. The one-year delay gives states more time than they have under current law, and Congress should use that time to keep working toward a better solution that gives states the time and resources they need to reduce errors without putting food assistance at risk. That disagreement should not keep the Senate from moving forward while farmers are fighting to stay in business.
“Since the committee’s failed vote in August, the pressure on farmers has only grown. Diesel now averages $6.05 a gallon in Arkansas, the highest statewide average on record. Peanut farmers in northeast Arkansas are facing a crisis afterDelta Peanut’s Jonesboro facility lost its federal warehouse bond, leaving growers with corps in the ground and nowhere to take them. Across Arkansas, farmers are betting everything they have each year against the cost of fuel, fertilizer, equipment and bank loans.
“Farmers are tired of being told that ‘better than nothing’ is the best Washington can do. We’re not fools. We can pass a Farm Bill that helps keep farmers in business and puts healthy food on our neighbors’ tables. That means stable export markets, more competition in seed, fertilizer and processing, and new markets for Arkansas-grown food in schools and other public institutions. It also means being honest about how much farm relief ultimately flows to the companies farmers owe.
Arkansas farmers cannot keep waiting, and Arkansas families should not be asked to pay the price for Washington’s failures to fix SNAP. We should keep working for a fair solution that protects families and gives states the time they need, while moving this Farm Bill forward to protect farmers while they are making decisions about whether they can afford another crop, another loan, or another year in farming. We can do both. That is what governing is supposed to look like, and that is how I would represent Arkansas in the United States Senate.
About Hallie Shoffner
Hallie Shoffner is a wife, mother, sixth-generation Arkansan, row crop farmer and small
business owner, running for U.S. Senate to fight for her neighbors. For more information, visit hallieshoffner.com.
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