Iowa Ag Secretary Patty Judge says a lot’s riding on the new Farm Bill.Congress is set to re-write federal farm policy. The last Farm Bill set the stage for a gradual reduction in federal price supports for crops, but some, including Iowa Senator Tom Harkin’s who’s chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, say it’s time to re-establish some sort of federal safety net for farmers when prices fall below the cost of production. Judge says the new Farm Bill will be the “make or break” for a lot of Iowa farmers.There are about 97-thousand farms in Iowa, and the average age of an Iowa farmer is 55, as Judge says few young people are entering farming because of the big expenses of land and equipment and narrow, if any, profits. Judge made her comments this morning on C-SPAN.
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