Why does timing matter?
Chairman Thompson announced they will have a Farm Bill markup in the House Committee on Thursday, May 23. He intends to move the bill through Committee before Memorial Day to preserve resources that would otherwise be restricted or limited when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) releases an updated baseline in June.
Next steps
Members of Congress will review the proposed Farm Bill legislation in more detail over the coming weeks. Agriculture stakeholders will provide significant feedback on how best to replace the current Farm Bill, which expired in September 2023 but was extended to September 30, 2024. This starts the process of meetings and negotiations for a bipartisan bill that can pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law by the President.
Deep Dive:
Key elements common to both bills
• Increase reference prices (not clear on how much or which crops)
• Add base acres for some farmers
• Improves dairy program
• Moves Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) climate funds to the Conservation Title
o Senate bill keeps them in climate programs
o House bill allows them to be used in other conservation programs
• Increase Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan limits (Farm Credit priority)
• Clarifies that Farm Credit is eligible to finance community healthcare facilities (Farm Credit priority)
• Increase premium support for crop insurance (No details on the House version. Senate version information is below)
• Increase crop insurance premium discount for young, beginning, and veteran farmers and extends the number of years of eligibility to 10 years.
• Increase money for trade—Market Access Program (MAP) & the Foreign Market Development Program (FMD)
• Affirms the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) is the sole regulator of the Farm Credit System (Farm Credit priority)
• More information on the House bill can be found here
Senate Bill
• Increases premium support for Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) crop insurance to 80%
• Increases SCO coverage level to 88%.
• More information on the Senate bill can be found here: Senate Ag Farm Bill Overview and Senate Ag Farm Bill Title by Title Summary
What’s Next?
The House markup on May 23 will provide the opportunity for committee members to offer amendments and changes to the bill. The Chairman would like bipartisan support coming out of the committee because a partisan bill will not pass through the full House. The timing of floor action and a vote depends on the outcome of the markup.
The timing of the Farm Bill in the Senate is still unknown. Chairwoman Stabenow has not announced a date for committee markup, however, she told Agri-Pulse that the bill was intended to “jump-start a final conversation” about a new bill. Senator Boozman (R-AR) said the Senate Republicans are waiting to unveil their larger Farm Bill framework proposal after the House Agriculture Committee releases their draft.
Senator Hoeven Introduces FARMER Crop Insurance Bill
Legislation was filed in April by Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) and Senator John Boozman that would increase premium support for 80% and 85% coverage levels while also enhancing the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). The Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act would raise premium support on 85% crop insurance coverage from 53% to 68% and premium support on 80% crop insurance coverage from 68% to 77%. This would apply to enterprise and whole farm units.
The FARMER Act also increases the premium support for SCO from 65% to 80% and increases the available coverage level from 86% to 90%. The act authorizes a study to address concerns about SCO in counties larger than 1,400 square miles, like some in North Dakota.
Senator Hoeven said, “Increasing premium subsidies will shrink producer deductibles and reduce the need for ad hoc disaster assistance in the future.” He also said, “It is the most cost-effective way to make sure that farmers are much better covered year in and year out, both in terms of weather and price.”
AgCountry and other Farm Credit System partners worked with Senator Hoeven’s office to bring support to the bill. The Senator worked on this proposal for months and received supportive feedback from commodity and crop insurance industry groups. The increased premium support on the 80% and 85% coverage levels was not included in Chairwoman Stabenow’s farm bill proposal.
