Farm country has been waiting on a new farm bill for almost two years. Angie Craig, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee and a Minnesota congresswoman now running for the state's open Senate seat, joins Heidi and Joel to talk about what's holding it up, what tariffs have cost rural families, and why farm bankruptcies are becoming as much a security question as an economic one.
Angie covers the imbalance that lets large agribusiness thrive while beginning farmers struggle to get a foothold, what immigration enforcement means for rural communities, and where she thinks the next farm bill needs to go if it's going to help anyone outside the biggest operations.
In this episode:
- The status of the farm bill and what it means for small and beginning farmers
- The impact of trade tariffs on U.S. agriculture
- Rising farm bankruptcies and farm suicides
- Rebuilding trust and economic resilience in rural communities
- Political dynamics in Congress between Republican and Democratic members
- Election timing and Minnesota's primary process
- ICE reform and immigration policy's effect on rural labor