An ag economist says he is optimistic new economic baseline data can help lawmakers write a farm bill that helps farmers weather uncertainties of the future.

Pat Westhoff, the director of the University of Missouri’s Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute, says the outlook factors in reference prices for farm programs based on the 2018 Farm Bill, which increases modestly over time, but lawmakers might update that information.

“For a number of commodities, the current reference prices are below what many producers consider their cost of production,” says Westhoff.

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