LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas senators have voted against a Senate version of the farm bill, but both say they will continue to work on the measure as it advances.
The U.S. Senate passed the bill on a 64-35 vote on Thursday. A House committee will consider the House version next month.
Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Boozman, R-Ark., both objected to the measure’s expanded crop insurance program, which Boozman says doesn’t work for southern commodities in the way it works for producers in other regions.
He says the program’s protections are geared toward producers in regions where yield risks are high. He says many southern crops, including rice, don’t fall into that category because they’re heavily irrigated.
Pryor says the measure doesn’t include safety inspections to protect consumers from contaminated catfish imports.
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