The Farm Bill that should have been enacted in 2023 is no further in resolution despite the extension which expires at the end of September 2024.  The House Committee on Agriculture passed H.R.8467, the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024 on a bipartisan 33-21 vote.  This Bill has yet to be considered by the House as the Committee Chair, Glenn Thompson (R-PA) has insufficient votes for passage.  A further complication is that the Congressional Budget Office has yet to provide a projection of cost that is necessary for members to vote on this necessary legislation.  The House Freedom Caucus regards the House Bill as too high especially with regard to SNAP benefits.

The Senate Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry Committee has yet to mark up their bill. Chairperson, Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), is steadfast in retaining SNAP benefits, threatening to pass the responsibility for the Farm Bill to the 119^th Congress.

At issue in both polarized committees is the allocation of funds to supplemental nutrition and conservation on the one hand as opposed to crop support payments.  A further complication is the multitude of bipartisan agricultural related special interest bills to be included in the 2024 version. Most are contentious including the so-called EATS Act relating to restrictions imposed by the California Proposition #12, ruled by SCOTUS as constitutional.  The ranking member of the Senate Committee, John Boozman (R-AR), has proposed a version that closely follows the House Bill that has no chance of passage.

At the present time, Congress has six working weeks to resolve outstanding issues to allow both chambers to pass their respective versions and then engage in bipartisan reconciliation.

The need for an equitable Farm Bill is indicated by projections of lower prices for agricultural commodities based on availability of corn and soybeans and lower demand and world trade.  Normally the Farm Bill is the least contentious of major legislation but a highly polarized Congress, especially in an election year, is impeding the normal bipartisan approach to resolution.

Ranking member of the House Agricultural Committee, David Scott (D-GA), characterized the situation as “This delay hurts the American people especially in our rural communities where our farms are.  It injects uncertainty into our Nation’s economies both rural and urban.  The willingness to delay the Bill to play election-year politics is selfish and disrespectful to our farmers.” 

Failure to enact a 2024 Farm, Food and National Security Act will have far reaching consequences for both farmers and exporters.  Costs of production are rising, interest rates remain high, commodity prices are falling and margins for commodities are shrinking.  The agricultural community deserves better than bipartisan bickering and intransigence over social issues and entrenched political principles.