The 2023 Farm Bill Will Be Later Than Expected – Does it Matter?

"Congress will have to extend temporarily the lifespan of the 2018 farm bill because it will miss the September 30 deadline for enacting its successor," said U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson. It was the first direct acknowledgement by two of the “four corners” of farm policy — the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees — that the 2023 farm bill would be late.

Neither committee has presented a first-round version of the panoramic legislation, which can take months, or even years, to complete. The 2023 farm bill is expected to be the most expensive ever, with chapters on commodity subsidies, SNAP, ag research, rural development, crop insurance, food aid, export promotion, farm credit, forestry, and land stewardship. Conservative Republicans are expected to propose limits on access to SNAP.

“The U.S. Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman (Debbie Stabenow) is continuing to work toward a bipartisan bill that can be signed into law by the end of the year,” said a Senate Agriculture Committee spokesman recently when asked about prospects for the 2023 farm bill. Several farm-state lawmakers have used similar language, framing the goal as presidential enactment this year, rather than by September 30, when provisions of the 2018 law begin to expire. Dairy would be the first commodity to be affected, on January 1, 2024, if a new bill is not enacted or an extension of the current law is not passed.

“I think there’s going to have to be an extension only because there are a lot of moving parts,” said Thompson at Penn State’s Ag Progress Days. Thompson said he would unveil his version of the bill and seek a committee vote when GOP House leaders reserve a week for floor debate of the legislation. “The whole sequence is driven when leadership gives me a week, and maybe that will be in September. Maybe it won’t. I don’t know.”

Thompson stated the extension “hopefully would be just short term.” At the Missouri State Fair, he once again emphasized that a short extension would be needed.

“Nothing is absolute. Floor time, Senate action, and the politics of the day are all consideration of whether an extension will ultimately be necessary,” said a Thompson aide.

Lawmakers are expected to give priority in September to voting on the annual government funding bills. None has been enacted for the new fiscal year, which opens on October 1. The farm bill would take secondary importance in that case.

More often than not, Congress is late in passage of farm bills. For example, the 1996 law originally was expected in 1995 and the 2012 farm bill, after repeated setbacks, became the 2014 farm law. President Trump signed the 2018 farm bill on December 20, nearly three months after the statutory target.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

Farmers rely on this omnibus legislation that authorizes many programs they use to expand research, education, export markets, conservation efforts and a host of others. The so-called “farm subsidies” are very limited and farmers rely more and more on open markets and crop insurance for their income and protection.

Where the battle lines are typically drawn is over the SNAP program – otherwise known as food stamps. Urban legislators take a great interest in the farm bill, because the SNAP program is used to support those in need of food assistance. The rub, however, is the use of SNAP to support welfare recipients that do not seek employment in order to remove themselves from the roles. What this article is really saying is that there will be a battle over the budget and how many dollars are allocated to the various farm bill programs. Depending on how long the budget disputes last will determine when we actually see a new farm bill.

A farm bill by September 30^th or not will have little or no impact on the farmers’/ranchers’ ability to purchase or lease those new trucks on your lot. Sign up for AgTruckTrader.com today, because harvest will soon be in the rear-view mirror and they will be in a buying mood!