The senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee “is having conversations about an extension” of the 2018 farm law into the new year, said a spokesperson on Wednesday. Farm leaders in Congress have said they intend to enact a new farm bill by late December, but a legislative logjam is growing on Capitol Hill.
“Sen. Boozman is having conversations about an extension with his colleagues and producer groups while continuing to work on a new farm bill that meets the needs of our nation’s farmers and rural communities,” said the spokesperson. Aides to Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow and House Agriculture Committee chair Glenn Thompson were not immediately available for comment.
“Without a Speaker, we wouldn’t be able to bring an extension of the 2018 farm bill to the floor for consideration by the House even if we wanted to,” said an aide to Georgia Rep. David Scott, the senior Democrat on House Agriculture. The aide said Scott and his staff “come to work every day and engage on writing and negotiating the next farm bill.”
Legislative work in the House has been postponed following the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, as speaker two weeks ago. Government funding expires on Nov. 17, so the House and Senate will prioritize passing either another short-term spending bill or an agreement to fund federal agencies for the rest of the fiscal year. The farm bill would be sidetracked during that process. Farm bills often require a week or more of floor debate.
The 2018 farm bill expired on Sept. 30 while lawmakers were focused on avoiding a government shutdown. Without a new farm bill or an extension of the 2018 law, the government-guaranteed price of fresh milk would more than double on Jan. 1. Support prices for some field crops would soar as well.