Schafer talks farm bill in Bismarck

Farmers and cattlemen are telling our nation s chief Agriculture officer what they want in the farmbill Reporter Sarah Gustin tells us how one of our very own is trying to represent his state as best he can in Washington U S Secretary of Agricultureor maybe just Ed Ed Schafer U S Sec of Ag I know it is hard to call me Secretary because it is for me too Schafer was the face of North Dakota for 8 years as governor Now he is the face of agriculture for the nation But he hasn t fogotten his roots Ed Schafer U S Sec of Ag I was anxious to get back home and get some sense about what real folks are talking about concerning the farmbill As the finishing touches are being placed on the bill farmers and ranchers are voicing they want permanent disaster relief and they want the bill passed now Ed Schafer U S Sec of Ag In the negotionations I can safely say you know I heard directly from people who are affected by it That is always helpful when you craft the conversations of trying to put the bill together Schafer says the biggest challenge of the farmbill is finding funding He says if the final bill includes a tax increase or fails to provide reform for farm policies it will be vetoed Ed Schafer U S Sec of Ag I think if we came back Monday and said we ve got the overall spending agreed to we ve got the funding sources agreed to that we would move forward quickly by the 18th would we have every t crossed I am not sure but it is possible Schafer says the bill needs to be passed He says the next extension wouldn t be days but years Ed Schafer U S Sec of Ag The reality is we need to get it done and if we are months off from getting it done we aren t going to be seeing any extensions In Bismarck reporting for KX news I am Sarah Gustin Schafer will also be speaking at the North Dakota republican convention in Fargo on Sunday