Progress Report: Farm Bill

Congress typically enacts a new set of comprehensive laws affecting food and agriculture policy in the United States every five years called the Farm Bill. The last Farm Bill was enacted in 2018 and has already been extended for one additional year. The current Farm Bill is now set to expire on September 30, 2024. Therefore, Congress must either enact a new comprehensive five-year Farm Bill or another short-term extension to allow more time to complete its work by the end of September.

So how far along is Congress on passing the next Farm Bill?

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D, MI), the Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, released a detailed farm bill framework on May 1, 2024, that sets out her priorities across all twelve titles of the Farm Bill. Sen. John Boozman (R, AR), the Committee’s Ranking Republican, released his own set of principles outlining his priorities in June. The House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glen “G.T.” Thompson (R, PA) introduced H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024. On May 23, 2024, the Committee favorably reported the Chairman’s legislation with every Republican and four Democrats voting for it.

The House bill and Senate frameworks all include many of the policy priorities requested by the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance - which is a broad national coalition representing the fruit, vegetable, tree nut, and horticulture industries in the United States. These proposals include significant investments for research and innovation as well as enhancements to crop insurance and other programs that would provide produce growers with greater access to the farm safety net and other USDA resources. The produce industry is faring well in this current Farm Bill cycle.

There does, however, remain a significant divide between Republicans and Democrats about how to pay for all the spending in the new Farm Bill. Since it is nearly impossible to pass a Farm Bill without it being bipartisan, the legislation is widely viewed as presently being stuck in place. Many are speculating that the next big opportunity for a farm bill to be enacted could be the so-called “lame duck” session of Congress between the November election and the end of the year before a new Congress convenes in January. The likelihood of that occurring depends largely on the outcome of the November elections, and there are few people who claim they know what that outcome will be with any confidence.

There’s a better than even chance that the current Farm Bill is extended one more time, and it will be unfinished business that will be addressed by the next Congress and whoever wins the Presidential election.

This update was written by Jonathan Cordone of Cordone Consulting and provided by the Produce Distributors Association (PDA). The PDA is a national trade association focused exclusively on the unique needs of produce wholesale receivers. For more information visit their website at https://www.producedistributorsassociation.org/ or contact Alan Siger at asiger@producedistributorsassociation.org or 412-913-1780