SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS) — We had the chance to sit down with Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski and hear what she is working on in Capitol Hill. One of the biggest items on her agenda is passing a farm bill.

We have previously reported on the year-long extension that was put on the current farm bill, so now lawmakers have until September to pass a new farm bill. But recently, House Agriculture Chairman Thompson spoke on how he would like to pass a bill before March.

Congresswomen Budzinski says while she would like to see a bill passed soon, she wants to be sure they take the proper amount of time to pass a bill that will provide the appropriate amount of funding for each sector of agriculture.

So, the Farm Bill, it has a lot of really great initiatives within it that do support our family farmers, support our rural communities, support economic development, and I’m trying to lead in all of those, but we really want to make sure we get this done by September on a bipartisan basis.” -Nikki Budzinski, U.S. Representative

Outside of adequate funding for crop insurance, conservation efforts, ag research, and nutritional programs, she would like to see funding allocated for new and beginning farmers.

The average age of a family farmer is 58 years old, we need to be thinking about that next generation of young and beginning farmers to come up into agriculture.”-Nikki Budzinski, U.S. Representative

As lawmakers discuss what should be included in the next farm bill, it has been suggested that the next bill could surpass one trillion dollars for the first time in history.