The Farm Bill remains at a standstill as Congressional leaders depart Washington, D.C. for the August recess.
Recap
May 1 – Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Stabenow (D-MI) released a Farm Bill framework. It does not contain legislative bill text and she has not scheduled an introduction of a bill in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
May 25 – The House Agriculture Committee passed the "Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024" out of committee by a vote of 33 to 21 with four Democrats voting in favor of the bill, technically making it a bipartisan bill. It has not been introduced on the House floor yet and probably is not bipartisan enough to pass through the House.
June 11 – Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Boozman (R-AR) and the Senate Agriculture Committee Republicans unveiled their own framework of the Farm Bill, including key priorities, a short summary, and title-by-title highlights.
Very little has happened since.
What’s the holdup?
The Republicans would like to see “more farm in the Farm Bill” and the Democrats have concerns with how Republicans have chosen to pay for “more farm.” The pay-fors include restricting future changes to the Thrifty Food Plan, limiting the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds and using Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) conservation funds for other purposes in agriculture.
Agri-Pulse recently reported that House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) still isn’t giving up on passing a Farm Bill this year. They report he’s “willing to entertain" an informal pre-conference negotiation with Senate Agriculture Committee leaders on a Farm Bill. His comment came at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on July 23. Agri-Pulse also reported that Thompson stressed a pre-conference was “not his preferred option.” He was critical of Stabenow’s refusal to release Farm Bill text, adding “I cannot reconcile nor negotiate a bipartisan 900-page bill with a partisan 90-page summary.”
The House Agriculture Committee bill still does not have support from enough Democrats to be able to pass the full House. The House’s attention and time has also moved to passing the 12 appropriations bills needed to fund the government before the September 30 deadline.
When can we expect a Farm Bill?
Many farm policy experts are predicting possible action on the Farm Bill after the election in November during the lame duck session. Others expect another extension and delay of the Farm Bill into 2025 with a new Congress. AgCountry, Farm Credit Services of America, Frontier Farm Credit, and over 500 other agriculture organizations sent a Farm Bill Coalition Letter to Congress, encouraging passage of a new Farm Bill in 2024. We will continue to keep you updated.
