Congress usually passes a farm bill every five years. Except for last year, when a version of the farm bill came to a screeching halt on the House floor. Legislators couldn’t agree on funding for food stamps, so the bill expired in September. Then, during last-minute fiscal cliff negotiations, Congress agreed to extend the 2008 farm bill until September 30, 2013. Now, they’re tasked with writing a whole new farm bill, just as automatic spending cuts are kicking in.
Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Ross joins us to talk about what the farm bill extension means for Vermonters, and whether there’s a new farm bill on the horizon anytime soon.
Also in the program, the number of Monarch butterflies that are wintering in Mexico are at an all-time low. Kent McFarland, a conservation biologist with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies explains what that will mean for the Monarch population that inhabits our region this summer.
And, the story of one Vermont family’s legacy in Catholic social work. Dorothy Day co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement and now her granddaughter continues the cause.