WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – When Republicans and Democrats were constructing the 2018 farm bill, there was an underlying bipartisanship not necessarily found today, according to a former chief economist for the U.S. Senate ag committee.

Matt Erickson worked for then-Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) from 2015 to 2021. At the time, Roberts was chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Currently, Erickson serves as ag economic and policy adviser for Farm Credit Services of America, Frontier Farm Credit and Ag Country Farm Credit Services.

Part of Erickson’s job as chief economist was to keep good relations with his counterparts in the offices of committee Democrats.

“We had a great working relationship,” he recalled. “The ag committee has always been known for bipartisan work. Bipartisanship’s not easy, and I think we’re seeing that in today’s world, and I hope we get back to it.

“I was always taught here, in my upbringing and policy, if you go into a negotiating room, you’re talking back and forth, there’s conversations that are heated. People are passionate about policy. But once you leave that negotiating room, remember people are people, and you know, asking them, ‘hey, let’s go have a beer.’ I hope we get back to those bipartisanship roots that we’ve been accustomed to.”

Erickson spoke about his career and his role as chief economist during the April 16 Purdue Commercial AgCast from the university’s Center For Commercial Agriculture.

The 2018 farm bill expired in 2023, but some provisions have been extended as lawmakers haven’t been able to reach agreement on new legislation.

“Long story short here, when we think about the work for the (Senate ag) committee and you work for farmers and ranchers, and what they need is they need that predictability and they need that certainty to get a farm bill done. And so that was our task and were able to get the job done (for the 2018 farm bill),” he said.

As part of the process of crafting the 2018 farm bill, staff for members of the committee talked with various groups and organizations to discuss their priorities for the bill.

Senate ag committee members also want to hear from their constituents, he said.

“We want to hear from the farmers themselves,” Erickson pointed out. “Farmers may not necessarily have the time to fly into (Washington) D.C. every day. Obviously, they’ve got work on the farm to do. So, that’s when you would call up maybe a farm bureau or a corn growers or a soybean association. The list goes on and on.

“If you think about the policy process of (the American Farm Bureau Federation), if I’m a chairman or if I’m a member in both either the House or the Senate, I want to talk to, I want to get the perspectives of a farmer. And I know if I go to a place like American Farm Bureau, I’m hearing it from the grassroots because their policy is set at the grassroots. The grassroots process at American Farm Bureau, you can’t beat it.”

Erickson served as an economist with American Farm Bureau from 2010-2015.

While working with the Senate ag committee, Erickson briefed and updated Roberts and other Republican members.

“When you think about some of those members, I think it really comes down to which state each member is in,” he explained. “For instance, a lot of the folks that worked for the Republican side when I was up on the hill, (there was) a lot of row crop focus, a lot of traditional ag focus. A lot of it was serving the producers that were in their state. You look at a lot of members maybe on the other side of the aisle where their specific priority is nutrition.

“And so that’s why this partnership between the rural and urban partnership here is really important for it to stick together.”

Erickson has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from Purdue. His family’s farm is north of West Lafayette.