By Ryan Hanrahan
CBS News’ Kelly Werthmann reported that “as the latest extension of the 2018 Farm Bill expired Sept. 30, Congress remained without a new long-term agriculture policy despite years of negotiations and temporary extensions.”
“The Farm Bill is the sweeping legislation that governs many federal farm safety net programs, conservation efforts, crop insurance support and food assistance programs,” Werthmann reported. “While the U.S. House passed a new Farm Bill earlier this year and the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its own version in September, lawmakers have yet to reach a final agreement.”
FarmWeekNow’s Tammie Sloup reported that, despite the expiration of the Farm Bill, “crop insurance and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (will) continue, but many conservation, research, rural development, trade and energy programs (will) face funding uncertainty without congressional action. Other program funding is linked to the crop year or marketing year, with some of USDA’s farm programs, including those covered under the Commodity Title and dairy support measures, officially expiring Dec. 31.”
“If Congress fails to enact a new farm bill or again extend the 2018 legislation by Dec. 31, USDA would be forced to revert to permanent law, triggering commodity support based on outdated 1930s and 1940s price formulas,” Sloup reported.
Progressive Farmer’s Jake Zajkowski reported that “the more immediate concern is programs whose funding or statutory authority expires even though Congress has addressed funding for other farm bill programs.
“The 2025 reconciliation law provided $1.014 billion for 19 agricultural programs without a budget baseline through fiscal 2031 — preventing a lapse that the bill experiences now,” Zajkowski reported. “Three programs without a baseline from the 2018 farm bill did not receive new funding in the reconciliation law: the Biobased Markets Program, Biorefinery Assistance Program and Rural Economic Development Program.”
The Northern Ag Network reported that Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman “said producers should not expect an immediate disruption. He said the U.S. Department of Agriculture can take administrative steps to keep programs operating through the end of the year while Congress continues negotiations. That flexibility gives lawmakers additional time, but it does not eliminate the need for Congress to pass a new bill. Producers, lenders and rural communities still need certainty about the programs that will govern the next growing season.”
Source : illinois.edu