The Waning Power of the Ag Lobby?

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Alternative Analysis of Farm Bill Failure: A Decline in Ag Lobby Power?

While some agriculture groups blame partisanship in Congress for failure of farm bill passage, Ron Nixon reports that some analysts do not think this is clearly so, writing for the New York Times in “Farm Bill Defeat Shows Agriculture’s Waning Power.”

There are clearly disagreements on the cause(s) of the farm bill failure in the House. For example, according to Vincent H. Smith, a professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University (cited by Nixon): “There are a small number of Congressional districts where farming continues to carry much sway … [but] Especially in the House, the farm lobby has been substantially weakened.”

In stark contrast to Smith, Barry L. Bequette, dean of the School of Agriculture, Research, Extension and Applied Sciences at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Miss., (also being cited by Nixon), said waning power or a lack of power is not the issue. Rather: “Farmers just haven’t learned how to utilize the power they have … All the groups are fractured and focused on their own narrow issues.”

We want to know what you think. Is there a monolithic farm lobby whose power is waning in the face of an urbanized and suburbanized society? Is there fracturing of the farm lobby? Why did the House farm bill meet with failure, two years in a row?