Nebraska's congressional delegation discusses farm bill in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The federal farm bill was the topic of conversation in the Capital City on Monday.

Nebraska's entire congressional delegation heard from farming and producing stakeholders at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus.

Sen. Deb Fischer said the Nebraska delegation is prioritizing research, technology, crop insurance and conservation program incentives.

She said the challenge will be coming up with a bill that has bipartisan support.

"To find that balance, then, between about the 17 percent of the farm bill that deals with farming and about 80 percent of the farm bill that deals with nutrition programs, we're going to get there," Fischer said.

The federal farm bill is something that is passed every five years and combines aid for both farming and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.

How much aid those two receive is what divides Democrats and Republicans when the farm bill is debated.

Rep. Don Bacon believes the best path forward is to make the farm bill bipartisan from the start.

"I believe it's going to be mussy," Bacon said. "I would advocate trying to go bipartisan up front, but I think we have 20 to 30 people that will not want to do that, but they don't realize that that's where we'll end up because that's the only way to get something passed through Congress and signed by the president."

Debate over the next farm bill is expected to begin in Washington, D.C. later this summer.