By John Newton
Key Takeaways
- The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made significant modifications to USDA mandatory farm programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Following these changes, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now projects 10-year spending for farm and nutrition programs at $1.4 trillion.
- Despite persistent low crop prices, high input costs and tight margins, current farm bill safety net programs delivered only about $2 billion for the 2024 crop year, according to CBO. With support from the OBBBA-enhanced programs not arriving until fiscal year 2027, many farms continue to face financial strain — making additional bridge assistance critical for weathering the upcoming growing season.
- While OBBBA made a historic investment in farm bill risk management tools, several farm bill programs were left out, and Congress must still pass a bipartisan farm bill reauthorization to address those remaining gaps.
Following several years of high input costs, declining crop prices and stagnant congressional investments in critical farm programs including risk management tools, trade promotion programs, marketing assistance loans and disaster programs, Congress advanced a historic investment in farm bill programs as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
However, not every program in the farm bill was addressed in the OBBBA, e.g., the Conservation Reserve Program, and efforts continue to pass a bipartisan farm bill reauthorization for those programs. To facilitate this effort, CBO recently provided an early release of their baseline projections for USDA's mandatory farm programs and the SNAP. CBO’s full 2026 budget and economic outlook is expected to be released in early February.
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