By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new launching page, website and videos produced by the House Committee on Agriculture is heralding the need for a strong 2018 farm bill to the public, the media and farmers.

Committee Chair K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas) announced the launch of the online resource, which provides updates and information related to the farm bill and can be accessed through the Committee on Agriculture website, on Dec. 13.

“I’m committed to completing a farm bill on time,” he said after the launch. “We’ve spent the past three years preparing – holding 113 hearings and six listening sessions around the country. We recognize what’s at stake. We’re working on getting the policy right and will use this site as a resource as we advance the next farm bill.”

The site contains a number of links to videos, podcasts and articles detailing the tenets of the farm bill and includes information showing the relevance of the bill to all consumers and businesses. One feature, #FARMBILLFRIDAY, features interviews with key players in 2018 farm bill negotiations. Recently, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue contributed a video testimonial.

“I look forward to being a resource to the committee as they ponder the 2018 farm bill,” Perdue said. “We are talking about having a safety net that’s not so high that there’s no risk, but not so low that it’s so dangerous people can’t farm again. So that’s the challenge of the ag committees and Congress, to write that farm bill.”

Bill discussions have just gotten underway in the House Ag Committee, but Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, a Democrat, is already encouraged by the chances of producing a finished House bill sooner rather than later.

She told news sources last month that while tax reform is currently at the top of the to-do list in Washington, D.C., debate over the farm bill is in sight. “It tentatively looks like we will start looking at the farm bill more closely in about February of 2018,” she told Brownfield reporter Meghan Grebner.

Another media source reported that Conaway was unable to confirm the timing for markup of the farm bill, but said it will move in the first quarter of the year. The spokesperson said “the committee stands to be ready when the (Majority) Leader provides floor time.”

The new House Ag Committee feature can be accessed at www.agriculture.house.gov/farmbill