Low net farm income among issues for challenging farm bill

Don Koehler says the fact that net farm income has fallen to half of what it was four years ago will make writing the 2018 farm bill a “challenge.” That and the fact no new money is available for funding the legislation, according to leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission, was one of four state peanut association executives, who gave their assessment of the climate for writing the next farm bill at the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation annual meeting in Sandestin, Fla., in a panel discussion moderated by Bob Redding, the Washington representative for the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation and other national groups.