On Thursday, June 20, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated their version of the five-year farm bill in a 195-234 vote. The vote fell far short of the 218 required for passage.
A House-passed Farm Bill is necessary in order to get a bill into conference with the Senate-passed 2013 Farm Bill, which included sportsmen’s organizations top conservation priorities of a national Sodsaver program and re-coupling conservation compliance to crop insurance. The House failed to consider an amendment that would have reflected the historic agreement between the conservation and agriculture communities to re-couple conservation compliance with crop insurance.
House leaders have stated that they are uncertain how to proceed to pass the farm bill. They have publicly discussed the possibility of trying to extend the current agriculture authorization, which expires September 30.
To view a list of sportsmen’s priorities for the Farm Bill, click here.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
