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Flinchbaugh provided insight on the current farm bill struggle during OFBF's Trends and Issues Conference.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (OFBF) - As long as foreign governments provide financial support for agriculture, the United States must do the same, a respected economist told Ohio farmers on Friday.

Barry Flinchbaugh, a Kansas State University professor of agricultural economics, told producers at Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s (OFBF) Trends and Issues Conference there is “absolutely no excuse” for Congress not to pass a farm bill by the extended deadline of April 18.

“I could never imagine that the Congress of the United States and the president would be so irresponsible as to not pass a farm bill, but frankly I’m in doubt this morning,” he said.

Flinchbaugh, who has worked on farm bills since 1968, said he has never seen a debate on farm policy so contentious and partisan. Rising farm income, he said, has opened the door for critics who oppose the legislation. But he noted that as commodity prices have risen, so have most input costs.

“This is not the time to pull the rug out from under American agriculture,” he said.

In addition to the farm bill, the Trends and Issues conference highlighted other current agricultural issues such as the impacts of pursuing corn-based ethanol. OFBF’s commodity advisory teams also met to develop recommendations to be considered by the organization’s Policy Development Committee.

Read more in the April 17 edition of Buckeye Farm News.