WASHINGTON, D.C. – The farm bill is already a year late, the stakes are high, and time is running out. The American Farm Bureau released its Market Intel Analysis of the consequences of not finishing the legislation and adding another extension of the 2018 bill.
While crop insurance is a permanent program, it does need improvements to make it more affordable for all farmers. Plus, the fixed statutory reference prices that were set in 2014 don’t account for unforeseen market forces like the exceptional inflation in recent years. Also, by delaying the farm bill another year, Congress would be delaying help that could slow the consolidation rate of dairy farms.
The farm bill’s conservation programs are defined by a fixed amount of money being available, and like the safety net programs, their value gets eroded by high inflation. The farm bill is also a chance to increase research funding and enhance U.S. food security.
According to the new Market Intel analysis by the American Farm Bureau, the numbers are staggering. AFB economists projecting losses per acre this year of more than $99 for corn, almost $43 for soybeans, and $118 for wheat.
AFB warns of the “likely loss” of more family farms without a new farm bill, already a year late. But Farm Bureau’s Joe Gilson says lawmakers are now more concerned with saving their seats. He says, “A lot of them, to be honest, are just more focused on campaigning than getting a farm bill done.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson sent members home for an early August recess, setting up another government funding ‘cliff’ in September and likely delaying farm bill floor action further. AFB President Zippy Duvall says Congress “must not put farmers, ranchers, and America’s families on the back burner.”
Joe Gilson says putting off a farm bill ‘til next year and a new Congress will only mean more delay. Gilson says, “Seating the Congress, you have committee assignments, you have new nominees, potentially, if there’s a change in administration, and the debt ceiling runs out January 1, 2025.”
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sees no farm bill progress in his committee and complains that frustration is building. Grassley says, “And if we don’t get a five-year farm bill this year, this is just going to multiply many times over, of reactions and irritation with farm leaders and individual family farmers with the Congress of the United States not delivering.”
More than 500 farm and related groups wrote Hill leaders last week demanding immediate action. AFB’s Duvall warns Congress will be to blame if it leaves farmers without a new farm bill after 140 thousand farms failed in the last five years.
