Cong. Zach Nunn. (Iowa PBS file photo)
The five-year framework for federal farm and food assistance programs expires September 30, but development of the 2023 Farm Bill was delayed by this spring’s debt deal negotiations. Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn, a Republican Bondurant, is a member of the House Ag Committee.
“I’ll be very clear. We have to get this done,” Nunn says. “Iowa’s got 85,000 farmers and already in the past year we’ve lost 100 family farms. Once a family farm disappears, those things don’t come back.”
He says the committee has an “aggressive” timeline to advance the Farm Bill in early September, so a House vote could follow. “We’ve shown that we can take some pretty big bills and march out smartly on that,” Nunn says, “but it’s a two partner dance and we’ll see what happens in the Senate.”
Five years ago, lawmakers temporarily extended programs covered in the 2018 Farm Bill for a couple of months until negotiations were completed in December. For the 2023 Farm Bill, Nunn says he’s indicated to the House Ag Committee chair that rural development, federal crop insurance and conserving natural resources are priorities for Iowans.
“The actual innovation, investment that goes to farmers is actually less than 20% of the overall Farm Bill,” Nunn says, “but anybody who enjoys having food on their plate wants that for the future, then we’ve got to have the fields be successful.”
Some lawmakers from both parties say they’ll press to exclude high income farming operations from federal crop insurance. And some House Republicans have indicated they’ll press for stricter work requirements for food stamps, or SNAP, than were included in the debt deal.
“Progressives on the left or House Freedom on the right…I’m not up for bumper sticker policies of ‘Let’s just cut money.’ That’s not a logical way to go about balancing the budget,” Nunn says. “We can’t balance the budget on the backs of farmers and certainly on the backs of families who need SNAP. We can do these things more efficiently, but that also requires us to be pragmatic about the types of policies we’re going to undertake.”
Nunn says he’s collaborating with likeminded House Republicans as well as House Democrats who represent rural districts in Illinois and North Carolina on Farm Bill priorities. Nunn represents Iowa’s third congressional district, which includes Ottumwa on the southeast corner and half of Shenandoah on the southwest, as well as Atlantic, Guthrie Center and the Des Moines metro.