The Farm Bill Expired… Again

ICYMI: The 2018 Farm Bill expired on Monday night, September 30. And this was after it had already been extended by one year. 

Is anyone surprised? Within the last year, Congress could have written a new farm bill. Or it could have passed another extension. But it did neither.

It’s the end of the world these programs as we know it: New sign-ups for CRP, EQIP projects, Grassland Conservation, MAP and FMD trade promotion, Food for Progress, animal health, bioenergy, speciality crop grants, organic certification, and beginning farmer programs have all come to a screeching halt.

Meanwhile, the federal crop insurance program doesn’t need to be reauthorized by a farm bill. And SNAP, aka most of the farm bill, has been “reauthorized through appropriations bills and continuing resolutions.”

Happy New Year, let’s party like it’s the 1940s! On January 1, price support programs will go back to how they were written in the 1940s. This law gives support built on a parity price from 1910-1914, which doesn’t consider productivity gains and technology advancements made in ag. This will hit dairy especially hard, as the USDA will start ramping up milk prices.

Soundbite: “Forcing our farmers to plan for next year’s crop without any idea of what’s happening is poor policy. Our legislators should be more concerned about supporting production agriculture, promoting soil conservation, and feeding hungry kids than they are about going home to campaign.” — Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart

Where this goes: While a new farm bill was needed days ago—and really more than a year ago—it’s unlikely that one will be passed before the November election.