America’s farm bill is on verge of expiring and many Iowans are watching closely. 

 Secretary of Agriculture of Iowa Mike Naig says that having a farm is important to Iowans, but it does not need to be on time. Naig says they have already realized that the bill will not be completed by the end of September so an extension does not concern him. He adds that he’d like the new farm bill done sooner rather than later. 

“I would like to see that work done. I’m hopeful that it can be done maybe by the end of the calendar year or early next. Every title of the farm bill has got something that impacts the state of Iowa, but particularly we look at risk management tools for farmers like crop insurance and trade promotion. And of course, the Supplemental Nutrition Program is also critically important to families. And so it’s important that this work gets done.”

Naig says that if the federal government can’t get the farm bill done by the end of year that the election cycle will ramp up and take precedence over the legislation. He notes that it all depends on the ability of the federal government passing a spending bill.