First District Congressman Tim Walz is slated to come to Albert Lea Thursday to speak out in favor of a five-year farm bill.

Set up as a news conference with local farmers and agricultural leaders, the event is scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m. at the Albert Lea Seed House.

Walz spokesman Tony Ufkin said farmers and other people in southern Minnesota have growing uncertainty about whether a farm bill will be approved before the current one expires at the end of September.

Ufkin said there are only eight scheduled days remaining for Congress to approve a new bill, noting that the bill passed out of the House Agriculture Committee with a bipartisan vote of 35-11, but it has not been allowed to be voted on by the full House of Representatives.

“A lot of people think it’s just for farmers,” Ufkin said. “That’s not the case at all.”

He said the farm bill affects prices on groceries, fuel and energy, and Walz, DFL-Mankato, plans to call on House leaders to quit playing politics and get the bill passed.

Also slated to be in attendance is Minnesota Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap, Albert Lea Seed House co-owner Mac Ehrhardt, Albert-Lea Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Director Randy Kehr and representatives from the Minnesota Farmers Union.

Walz faces off against farmer and former state Rep. Allen Quist, R-St. Peter, in the November general election.