By Natalie Willis, Reporter, Valley Ag Voice
The long-awaited Farm Bill — an omnibus, multi-year law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs at the federal level — is approaching its deadline on Sept. 30, 2024. The Farm Bill must be reauthorized by Congress every five years to address food, agriculture, and nutrition.
The 2018 Farm Bill would have expired in Dec. 2023, but due to several road bumps in passing a new legislative package, President Joe Biden extended the former Farm Bill to September. Since then, the House Agriculture Committee passed its version of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 in May.
The $1.5 trillion draft Farm Bill proposes spending $50 billion over the next decade to raise price floors for major agricultural products such as corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, and peanuts. Funding these price floors would entail reversing a 2018 provision that increased SNAP benefits.
On Aug. 2, a new obstacle presented itself following an official cost estimate by the Congressional Budget Office which found that the proposed Farm Bill would increase the federal budget deficit by $33 billion over 10 years.
According to the Rural County Representatives of California, the crux of the issue is a provision in the draft bill intended to suspend the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s use of section 5 under its Commodity Credit Corporation spending authority.
“CBO’s estimate of the potential savings is short of what House Ag Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., needs to cover the cost of several commodity program provisions, including higher reference prices in the Price Loss Coverage program,” RCRC stated in a press release.
Section 5 of the CCC gives the USDA broad authority to support agricultural prices and incomes and allows the Secretary of Agriculture to use funds from the CCC for various purposes, including making loans to farmers, purchasing agricultural commodities, and supporting commodity prices.
This provision has been used for various programs, such as the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) during trade disputes and the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
The CBO estimated a 50% chance the CCC provision could save $3.6 billion from 2025 to 2033. However, they also estimated that the bill would increase the cost of commodity programs by $43.4 billion during that time. Other reductions in the bill bring the net cost increase down to $33 billion, RCRC explained.
The funding gap could force House leaders to either direct the CBO to change its budget estimate or to modify the legislation if they want to put the bill on the House floor.
In response to the CBO estimate, House Ag Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson released a statement acknowledging the importance of the CBO’s score in the farm bill process but expressed concerns that the methodology underestimates CCC spending by over $60 billion in the past seven years.
DEADLINE APPROACHING
The Senate plays a crucial role in crafting and passing the farm bill, with both Senate Democrats and Republicans releasing their respective frameworks for the legislation. However, partisan differences between the Republican-led House and Democrat-led Senate versions, along with internal disagreements within Senate parties, could further delay the bill’s progress.
Given the current impasse, senators from both parties are increasingly suggesting a temporary extension of the existing law. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, told the Washington Post that continuing the 2018 law temporarily might be the easiest option to navigate through Congress.
Amid these discussions, frustration is mounting over the stalled negotiations. Thompson criticized Senate Democrats for delaying the process and urged them to begin bipartisan discussions to finalize the farm bill by the end of the year.
“The Farm, Food, and National Security Act was built by rural America, for rural America. Its historic investments in the farm safety net, biosecurity, trade promotion, agricultural research, conservation, and so much more deliver certainty in times of crisis when disastrous regulatory and Democratic policies are eroding the American dream,” Thompson said. “The continuous grandstanding and inaction of Senate Democrats is not working to honor the men and women who feed, fuel, and clothe our great nation. I implore Chairwoman Stabenow to release text so we can begin good faith conversations on producing a bicameral, bipartisan farm bill before years’ end.”
Congress is required to sign a new bill by Sept. 30, or the bill may be extended until Sept. 30, 2025.
