Congress Fails to Pass Farm Bill

October 3, 2018 — 

Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees have not been able to reach an agreement on the farm bill due to differences over work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commodities, conservation, funding levels, etc. Efforts will continue with the goal of trying to finalize a bill in December. Leaders are not talking about an extension at this time because it would diminish the pressure to complete a bill this year. [Source: National Hog Farmer, September 28, 2018, by Scott Shearer]

Crop insurance and SNAP will continue after the Sept. 30 deadline and even without an extension because they have permanent authority and funding baselines. However, a number of programs will be placed in jeopardy until a new farm bill is passed.

The Conservation Reserve Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program will have funding but USDA's authority to administer the programs ends on Sept. 30.

There are a number of programs that will lose their funding until a new farm bill is passed. These include the Foreign Market Development Program, Biomass Crop Assistance Program, Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops, Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program, and Value-Added Promotion Grants Program.

The lack of funding for FMD is becoming a major concern to a number of commodity organizations and cooperators who depend upon this program to have a full-time presence overseas with offices and staff to develop new markets and expand existing international markets. The cooperators have indicated without funding for fiscal year 2019 they will have to begin closing international offices and reduce staffing. This will send a message to our competitors that the United States is ceding those markets.

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