New Farm Bill Delayed Until After New Year
Farmers along with farm and commodity organizations were hoping that Congress would be able to move a new five-year Farm Bill through Congress during its lame duck session following the November 5th election. Unfortunately, it now appears that it will be punted into the new session of Congress and the Trump administration to address.
A couple of weeks after the election Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chairwoman of the Senate’s Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry committee, introduced the Senate’s long-awaited Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act which was built upon a framework released earlier this year. The Senate version was introduced several months after the House version was introduced and received a committee hearing. This has created a race to pass a farm bill extension before the end of the year after Senator Stabenow’s bill was rejected by Republicans. Programs such as crop insurance, commodity support and nutrition assistance are set to expire at the end of the year, heightening the urgency for Congress to act. Leaders of the House and Senate ag committees are in active discussions about putting elements of a farm bill in an end of the year aid package.
To say the least, this is creating a year-end crisis.
The Farm Credit Council – which represents the 61 Farm Credit associations throughout the country, including AgCredit – emphasized exactly that in a letter it sent to the Senate and House leadership following the election signed onto by all 61 Farm Credit associations. The letter requested that Congress swiftly enact legislation to help American farmers cope with the impact of multiple disasters and a severe downturn in the agricultural economy. It went onto to urge Congress to act on two fronts before yearend — provide emergency funding for agricultural producers recovering from disasters and enact a 5-year Farm Bill providing an enhanced safety net for farmers and ranchers.