INTERVIEW: Georgia Rep. Austin Scott details how the Big, Beautiful Bill will help farmers
THE LOWDOWN:
House Agricultural Committee vice chairman Austin Scott (R., Ga.) spoke with the Washington Reporter after the bill’s passage to explain how the Big, Beautiful Bill will help America’s farmers and agricultural sector.
Scott said that “hopefully the Senate will be able to add whatever amendments they want to it” and return the bill to the House “over the next couple of weeks,” noting that he “would certainly hope to be done with it by the July 4th break.”
The Georgia Republican told the Reporter that the last time Congress passed a farm bill was in 2018 and that, because of the lack of another farm bill, commodity prices — which are used as pricing reference points in the agricultural sector — have not caught up with inflation. Scott explained the reference prices “don’t guarantee anybody a profit, but what they do is set a loss limit, if you will, on those commodities.”
The Big, Beautiful Bill, however, addresses this issue and raises the reference prices for several important commodities that feed Americans every day.
Thursday morning saw the House passage of President Donald Trump’s and the Republicans’ Big, Beautiful Bill through the reconciliation process.
Now, the bill is in the hands of the Senate, but this behemoth of legislation carries with it many provisions to improve the lives of Americans after four years of “Bidenomics” — including our farmers.
House Agricultural Committee vice chairman Austin Scott (R., Ga.) spoke with the Washington Reporter after the bill’s passage to explain how the Big, Beautiful Bill will help America’s farmers and agricultural sector.
Scott said that “hopefully the Senate will be able to add whatever amendments they want to it” and return the bill to the House “over the next couple of weeks,” noting that he “would certainly hope to be done with it by the July 4th break.”
“We had two Republicans vote ‘no,’ we had one Republican vote ‘present,’ but, again, whether it passes by one vote or five votes, we still got it done,” Scott said.
The Georgia Republican told the Reporter that the last time Congress passed a farm bill was in 2018 and that, because of the lack of another farm bill, commodity prices — which are used as pricing reference points in the agricultural sector — have not caught up with inflation. Scott explained the reference prices “don’t guarantee anybody a profit, but what they do is set a loss limit, if you will, on those commodities.”
The Big, Beautiful Bill, however, addresses this issue and raises the reference prices for several important commodities that feed Americans every day.
“If you take corn, the current reference price was $3.70. Again, that was set in 2018,” Scott said. “It has a 10 percent increase and so it’s going to $4.10. And the minimum increase that any commodity got was 10 percent.”
Scott recalled that the 2018 farm bill only had four Democrats on the House Agricultural Committee support the legislation in a committee vote and noted the farm bill vote “has historically been a pretty broad bipartisan vote.”
“Right now, 82 percent of farm bill spending goes to [Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)] benefits,” Scott said. “That has been the demand: is that 80-plus percent of farm bill spending go to SNAP benefits.”
“That does not give us the opportunity to write a farm bill that actually takes care of production agriculture,” he continued. “And the irony of this is, again, no farmers, no food. Fewer farmers, the more food costs.”
When it comes to SNAP, Scott said he believes the program should be allowed to be used to buy hot foods like “a rotisserie chicken” instead of “a candy bar” and criticized blue states like California, which “literally [has] an exemption as big as their state is.”
“They’ve got a statewide exemption on work requirements, and that’s absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “People who can work should have to work.” Scott also noted that the ruby-red state of Arkansas “limited what type of drinks can be purchased with SNAP benefits,” such as sugary soft drinks.
As for foreign nations buying up American farmland, Scott explained that land is titled at the state level and gave Arkansas praise for how the state has handled the issue.
“I do think you will see both some federal parameters on it, but you’ve also got to see state parameters on it,” Scott said.
“Now, what makes it difficult is the ability to hide behind LLCs and shell corporations and other things,” he continued. “So it’s not as simple as saying someone from China can’t buy land inside the United States of America.”
“Certainly, if they’re in this country legally, then they’re going to have certain rights. What we don’t want is the Chinese Communist Party or someone who represents the Chinese Communist Party owning land inside the United States of America,” Scott said.
