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Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills, former Field Director for R-CalfUSA and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
Good day everyone in farm and ranch country.
Winter 2024 continues to have the country in record-breaking cold weather that challenges farmers and ranchers. This weather has exposed supply chain issues that have left consumers without bread, milk, and many other necessities in some areas. We are all hoping for rising mercury and a much-needed break in the weeks ahead to get the countryside back on its feet.
According to Reuters, “The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a stopgap bill to fund the federal government through early March and avert a partial government shutdown, sending it to President Joe Biden for final approval. The measure passed 314-108. Earlier on Thursday, the Senate had easily passed the bill, with a 77-18 vote ahead of the weekend deadline. This third stopgap funding bill, known as a “continuing resolution” or “CR,” would simply extend last fiscal year’s spending levels until two deadlines of March 1 and March 8 for completing action of spending for various government agencies.”
Politico reported, “The new stopgap agreed to by appropriations leaders maintains Speaker Mike Johnson’s “laddered” approach, with two pots of funding for two sets of agencies expiring about a week apart.
Under the new proposal, the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration would run out of cash on March 1. A number of other agencies would be funded through March 8. Without a stopgap or a full-year spending bill signed into law, USDA and FDA will shut down on Saturday morning.
Notably, the CR does not include additional funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, kicking the issue of an imminent funding shortfall down the road.
The Washington Post printed that, “The long-term plan is a set of annual spending bills, or appropriations, that would fund the government until the end of the 2024 fiscal year, on Sept. 30. Johnson and Schumer would authorize $1.66 trillion in spending, while clawing back $20 billion from the Internal Revenue Service and $6.1 billion in unspent emergency coronavirus funds.”
I see this action as a big loss for the formerly known as 2023 but now we are hoping for the 2024 Farm Bill. We really needed to see the fiscal budget solved and off the future docket entirely in order to open up the wavelengths for meaningful Farm Bill conversations and attention.
Politico reported that this action has, “potentially derailed Rep. G.T. Thompson’s (R-Pa.) optimistic plans to move the House version of the farm bill that same month.
Thompson last week told reporters that he was still planning to move the more than $1 trillion agriculture and food bill in March when there are three consecutive weeks of session. But he now says that “these funding bills always can be an issue for other good legislation,” when asked about a CR ending in March.
The uncertainty surrounding a Farm Bill this year is stronger than ever. Between fiscal responsibility and caucus season it has yet to be seen how bad Congress wants to make rural America a priority this session.
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Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Tune in Fridays on The Hot Barn Report, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and highlights industry reforms or listen to Ranch Raised with Karina Jones a slice of daily life on the Jones Ranch.
