In an interview with Arkansas PBS, Arkansas’ U.S Senator John Boozman, said the extension lawmakers have received to work out the details of the upcoming farm bill has been helpful. The farm bill is legislation that has to be renewed every 5 years and it deals with farm programs like crop insurance, as well food programs like food stamps.

Boozman, a Republican, said part of the challenge of creating a farm bill is the regional differences of lawmakers.

“Southern agriculture is distinct front the I’s- Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. The I- states are very different. We [southern states] are able to irrigate with a lot of water so we can produce the crop and the fertilizer. We worry about the price going down because of how much it grows,” Boozman said. “In the Midwest, they don’t have as much water. They don’t irrigate as much. They worry about not having the crop.”

U.S Senator John Boozman said regional differences, inflation a challenge to crafting the farm bill