Lucas Talks Farm Bill’s Future
Oklahoma Rep. Frank Lucas talks turkey … and milk, food stamps, ethanol and getting along with his peers
Lucas, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, says federal farm programs allow U.S. consumers to spend money on a lot of things besides food.
By Chris Casteel
WASHINGTON — Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, is the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and one of the most influential voices in Congress on farm policy.
The 53-year-old rancher has been in the House since 1994 and is the longest serving House member in the Oklahoma delegation. He has been trying for more than a year to get a new farm bill signed into law to set the rules for crop production and nutrition programs but has run into numerous obstacles, including House Republicans’ insistence on major cuts to the food stamp program and differences with the Senate on support levels for commodities such as corn and wheat.
In an interview on Capitol Hill last week, Lucas talked about taxpayer support for farmers and other topics. Some of the answers were edited for brevity.