WASHINGTON – A new farm bill is under debate in the U.S. senate and has an impact beyond the wheat fields and cattle lots of Kansas. The Farm Bill impacts grocery store shelves, social services such as food stamps and school lunches, and serves as an important safety net for an essential but volatile sector of the economy. But Kansas State University agricultural economist Barry Flinchbaugh said it’s a bad time to be writing a new farm bill. Farmers and ranchers are receiving record revenues from their products at a time when the economy has cut personal and government revenues and the federal deficit has ballooned – casting doubt on the need for a farm bill and tempting anti-government and anti-tax sentiment, he said. Flinchbaugh will discuss the future of a new farm bill on this Sunday morning’s edition of Community Perspective at 8:04.
Friday, June 1, 9 p.m.