A new five-year Farm Bill recently passed the US House.

Iowa’s Third Congressional District Representative Zach Nunn calls the bipartisan vote in the House a huge win for Iowans and the agriculture industry. However, he points out that the House Republican Leadership wanted to use a rule where the legislation would be brought forward for a debate, but no voting would take place.

“I directly called out leadership and said, ‘This is not happening. We have worked too hard, Iowa farmers worked too hard for this. They deserve the opportunity to have a vote.’ I was asked if I would come off the floor (of the House) and have a private conversation, I said, ‘No, we’re going to have this conversation right now.’ And we held them to account.”   

Congressman Nunn states that there are 21 provisions in the new Farm Bill, several that cater to Iowans, including one aspect of codifying the ReConnecting Rural America Act that ensures broadband connections in all of rural areas in the country, something that Jamie Daubendiek, along with other representatives from the Iowa Communication Alliance advocated for when he met with them in Washington, DC. He talks about the benefits of bringing broadband to rural areas.

“For helping not only the future of farming with artificial intelligence and autonomous farm equipment, it also helps someone who wants to start a small business, or somebody who might need remote access care through our telehealth medicine program, which was also included in this. This is making sure that rural America gets all the same advantages as a big city, but still the quality of life that we all love about living in a place like Greene County.”

Nunn says not only did the House approve a Farm Bill, but that he was guaranteed a vote on nation-wide access to E-15 would take place next week. He is hopeful the bill will be considered soon in the Senate, due to the momentum from the House and that there is no companion bill in the Senate Agriculture Committee, allowing for a more streamlined pathway.