U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says the race is on to pass a new Farm Bill.
Gillibrand said she is optimistic the House will get the bipartisan support needed for the bill to pass before the current bill's September 30th expiration date. She said the only thing that may hinder that is the election cycle.
"The only reason why it won't happen in September is if it's a political issue for the elections," Gillibrand said. "If it becomes politicized in some way then it will be put off until the end of November, but it will get done this year."
During a visit to the New York State Fair, Gillibrand emphasized the importance of the agriculture industry in the state, and said the Farm Bill is an important part of keeping the industry strong.
"For Upstate New York, it means a great deal," Gillibrand said. "It's a lot of resources for our farmers, programs for our farmers to ensure farmers have resources to have clean air, clean water, programs to help them create value-added products to sell, programs to help give them insurance so when the weather is horrific and when they lose all their crops or an entire year's worth of work they can stay in business."
The current 2018 Farm Bill was previously extended to reach Sept. 30.
