Farm Bill Update

By Samantha Levy

While much of the nation’s attention has been rightly focused on the current federal shutdown, we cannot lose sight of the fact that parts of the Farm Bill have expired at a time when agriculture is facing incredible economic challenges and uncertainty.

In September, AFT joined over 250 other farm and conservation organizations on a letter urging congressional leadership to prioritize action this fall on a “full” Farm Bill reauthorization. The 2018 Farm Bill, originally due for reauthorization in 2023, has now been extended twice. As bleak farm economic reports have continued to surface detailing a combination of market losses, low prices, and record costs of production, a “full” reauthorization is now more urgent than ever.

Although the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), enacted by Congress in July, added significant funding for a number of Farm Bill programs and transferred the remaining Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding into the Farm Bill’s Conservation Title’s permanent baseline (an AFT Farm Bill priority), important USDA programs have expired. This includes the Conservation Reserve Program, which, as of October 1, is unable to enroll new contracts or re-enroll existing ones.