Matt Varilek meets local producers at Stock Growers Convention - KOTA Territory News

Matt Varilek meets local producers at Stock Growers Convention

With the drought worsening, so are worries about the passage of a new Farm Bill.

Congressional Candidate Matt Varilek made an appearance at the Stock Growers Convention in Rapid City Saturday.

Varilek says it's a great way for him to learn from individual producers and the challenges they face.

He says Congress Woman Kristi Noem has not done enough to push for the Farm Bill in Congress.

"But because the U.S. House and Kristi Noem walked away from the Farm Bill, folks here do not have that safety net in place. And we're dealing with a drought, the Farm Bill expires on September 30th, so it really is pretty irresponsible. I'm here to tell folks that we don't have to settle for that lack of results," says Varilek.

Noem was also invited but couldn't attend due to scheduling conflicts. She did say South Dakotans won't see any major disruptions from the expiration of the Farm Bill, at least until the end of the year, but says that's no excuse.

She says she'll continue fighting to get a five year Farm Bill done.

Noem says only two of the 40 Farm Bills passed have made it in before the September 30th deadline.