The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee will hold the first field hearing on the next farm bill this Thursday at 2 p.m. at McCain Auditorium at Kansas State University.

The committee is chaired by Kansas Senator Pat Roberts, but Roger Marshall, 1st District Congressman, will also be in attendance for the hearing. Marshall stated, “I think the first thing we need to do is figure out what’s working and what’s not working in the current farm bill. We’re going to do an evolution of the farm bill, not a revolution. ” Marshall added that, “crop insurance will continue to be the backbone of any type of farm bill.”

Marshall noted that the House and Senate Ag Committee chairs both want to get a farm bill written this year so that it can be implemented in 2018. Marshall also added he did not see anything happening overnight. If we crack open the farm bill we might end up with something worse. “What I’m going to be focused on is  trade and how can we improve and get going on bilateral trade agreements to help start moving some of these grains out of Kansas.”

The hearing in Manhattan will be webcast at ag.senate.gov.