Farmers and ranchers across the country are expressing frustration – but very little surprise – at Congress’ continued inability to make any progress on a new farm bill. The omnibus legislation, which historically has received strong bipartisan support, expired on Sept. 30 after receiving a one-year extension in 2023.
The current farm bill originally became law in 2018. There is a possibility that the current bill could receive another extension or that new legislation could be passed before the end of the calendar year, but either outcome seems unlikely. The Senate and House are currently in recess until after the Nov. 5 election, and farm bill talks will probably struggle to gain enough traction in a lame-duck Congress to pass both chambers before the new session begins in January.
The House Committee on Agriculture completed an initial version of a new farm bill in May. Glen Thompson (R-Pennsylvania), who chairs that committee, has publicly stated that he will spend the October recess working to produce a farm bill that will pass by January. Retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), chair of the Senate ag committee, has released outlines and priorities for a new farm bill. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) has described a new farm bill as “must-pass” legislation for the lame-duck session of Congress. But beyond these bold statements of intent, very little practical progress has been made in either the House or Senate.
Some programs whose day-to-day authority depends on the farm bill were shut down immediately upon the bill’s expiration, among them the Foreign Market Development program; several important animal health programs; programs for socially disadvantaged, veteran, young and beginning farmers; and the Specialty Crops Block Grants program. New enrollments in USDA conservation programs were also shut off.
Thankfully, some programs operate under permanent law and will not sunset without a new farm bill, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), crop insurance programs and several disaster programs such as the Livestock Indemnity Program and Livestock Forage Disaster Program. However, without new legislation, funding for these programs may prove woefully inadequate.
The primary sticking point between congressional Republicans and Democrats is funding for food programs such as SNAP and the Thrifty Food Plan. Another major contributor to the stalemate is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which for years has allowed ranchers, farmers and forest landowners to apply for grants to fund conservation practices such as ditch lining, rotational grazing and crop rotation. The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, expanded EQIP and three other USDA programs with billions of new dollars for on-farm improvements. However, it also specified that money from these programs be dedicated to “climate-smart” conservation practices – a vague distinction that nevertheless narrows the scope of what producers can use EQIP funds for. For the most part, Republicans would like to see less money dedicated to food programs and for programs such as EQIP to be less prohibitive for producers; Democrats are pushing for more food program funding and maintaining stricter, “climate-smart” EQIP requirements.
Agriculture groups warn that without a new farm bill, the industry – and by extension, the entire national economy – could face dire consequences. Due to rapid price inflation in recent years, the dollar is only worth about 80% of what it was in 2018. That means the fixed-price reference prices in the bill, which define the aid the USDA provides producers when they need it, only provide 80% of the value they did when the just-expired farm bill was passed. So even another extension would be very dated. Additionally, without a new farm bill, a significant amount of funding for conservation programs will be spent for the last time in 2024, rather than entering the baseline accounting that would make it available in the next farm bill.
“Farmers and ranchers were told lawmakers just needed more time to pass a five-year farm bill, but once again we find ourselves in a lurch without much-needed improvements to safety net and risk management programs,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a statement. “Meanwhile, America has lost 141,000 farms in five years. Low commodity prices, rising supply costs, inflation and outdated farm policy provisions threaten to destroy the dreams of thousands more.”
