Farm Bill, Farm Bill, wherefore art thou Farm Bill?

The Farm Bill is a complicated omnibus bill that takes time to come to fruition. In fact, over the last several cycles of farm bills, extensions have been needed to complete action due to negotiations or the congressional calendar. This year is no exception; Congress needed to pass an extension to the 2018 Farm Bill so that programs would not expire and trigger permanent law, or, for those lacking a baseline, be without funding.?Jim Monke?and his CRS colleagues show the detailed impacts on programs during an extension, and the effective dates of an expiration during 2024 primarily come at the end of the calendar year.?

The news that Chairman GT Thompson plans to mark up the House Farm Bill?and the discussion framework released this week by Senate Ag Chairwoman Stabnow?is cause for celebration, but the road ahead is less than clear.

House Democrats have given limited reactions to the proposals that Thompson has proffered. However, on the House side both Republicans and Democrats have now agreed to use limitations on the Commodity Credit Corporation to fund some of the increases needed in the Commodities and Crop Insurance Titles. Yet there remain significant differences even in these proposals. There is hope that members will come together prior to a markup to hash out final differences – according to staff on the majority side, they remain open to negotiations – but the changes to the Thrifty Food Plan still seem like a bridge too far to cross for House Democrats. There was a major shift recently when both Senate Ag Republicans and House Ag Republicans both committed in the press and to stakeholder groups to reallocate all remaining funding for conservation programs in the Inflation Reduction Act into the Conservation Title baseline, though without climate sideboards as they currently stand.?

So where are we? Far down the road of negotiation, but currently lacking an agreement that will produce a bill supported by large numbers of Republicans and Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee, which could speed the consideration of that bill on the House Floor and add pressure on the Senate to move a markup of their own bill.?

Over the next few weeks as we barrel toward the House Ag Markup, our team will post highlights of issues that we expect to be the flashpoints and biggest news items in the coming Farm Bill debate. Come for Conservation and Nutrition and stay for the Commodity debate! ?

To continue the literary theme, we’ve got miles to go before we sleep!