Public Forum In Scottsbluff To Address 2018 Farm Bill

LINCOLN – Producers, landowners and other agricultural policy stakeholders seeking information on the 2018 farm bill are encouraged to register for a series of five forums scheduled at locations across Kansas and Nebraska, including one at Scottsbluff in early March.

The Scottsbluff forum is scheduled for March 6 from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, 4502 Avenue I. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and refreshments and lunch will be served.

The registration fee is $20 if pre-registered five days before the date of each meeting, and will increase to $30 after the deadline or at the door. The fee covers the meal, refreshments and meeting materials. To register, visit http://www.agmanager.info/events/2018-farm-bill-meetings and clicking on the meeting you wish to attend.

Further information is available on the web from either of the host institutions at K-State at http://agmanager.info or at Nebraska at http://farmbill.unl.edu or by contacting the meeting the meeting host for Scottsbluff, Extension Educator Jessica Groskopf ([email protected] or 308-632-1247).

The Scottsbluff forum is one of five scheduled across Nebraska and Kansas.

Experts from K-State Research and Extension and Nebraska Extension will discuss farm bill issues and policy options, and gather input to share with policymakers to help inform the continuing development

A new federal farm bill is due this year and is under development in Congress. With action completed on a federal budget including some agricultural programs, the farm bill process could pick up quickly with proposals and legislation fully debated in the coming weeks.

The meetings will provide an overview of the current debate and current economic conditions in agriculture which help frame the discussion and will look at crop and dairy commodity programs, conservation programs, and nutrition programs and other policy issues, as well as proposed crop insurance changes.

Leading the discussion will be Mykel Taylor and Art Barnaby from Kansas State University and Brad Lubben from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Taylor is a farm management specialist with expertise in producer decision-making, including in-depth analysis of the 2014 farm program enrollment decision. Her analysis of past decisions and outlook will provide perspective on the commodity programs, the potential changes and the decisions ahead in 2019.

Barnaby is a national expert in crop insurance with keen insight on the features and performance of crop insurance. His work will explore the proposed changes and the potential ramifications to the program and to producer crop insurance and risk management decisions. Lubben is a noted expert in agricultural policy with insight on both the farm bill issues and the process. He will help frame the debate and the expectations for new programs and policies to provide perspective on the broader budget and policy challenges facing members of Congress in writing the new farm bill.

The other four meetings are scheduled in the following locations: Feb. 28, Dodge City, Kan .; March 1, Manhattan, Kan .; March 5, Mead, Neb .; and March 7, Hastings, Nev.