Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell all but ruled out new funding for the 2023 farm bill on Tuesday while the lead Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee said “we’re in the early stages of negotiations with the House” on the legislation. Neither committee has taken a step in public to write a successor to the 2018 farm law, which expires on September 30.
Republican Sen. John Boozman mentioned in passing the behind-the-scenes activity on the farm bill while describing the challenges of rising interest rates, input costs, and forecasts of weaker commodity prices. “So we just need to make sure that we do have the risk management tools in place for farmers to go on,” he said during a news conference with McConnell in Lexington, Kentucky.
“We’re in the early stages of negotiations with the House,” said Boozman. “I think at the end of the day, we’ll come up with a product that we can be proud of.” He did not suggest provisions that might be part of the legislation. The farm-group wish list includes higher reference prices, a factor in calculating subsidy payments, and an expanded crop insurance program.
A Boozman aide said conversations were ongoing between the committees, “but early in the process, since neither chamber has put pen to paper yet.”
“The committee is continuing its work to draft a bipartisan farm bill that serves the needs of the American people,” said a spokesperson for Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, when asked about the state of play for the bill.
House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson has said his committee might not vote on a version of the farm bill until early September. An aide was not immediately available to discuss any Senate-House negotiations.
The 2023 farm bill is expected to be the most expensive ever. Farm bills usually have a five-year life, but they must fit within a 10-year budget baseline, which would be $1.5 trillion this time, according to the CBO. Steps such as higher reference prices or a strengthened crop insurance system could be costly.
“I will say this, new spending is going to be hard to come by,” McConnell told reporters after a roundtable discussion of agricultural issues. The debt limit agreement early this month “put a cap on spending, and so a lot of additional spending in this farm bill, seems to me, is unlikely.”
McConnell is the second-ranking Republican on the Agriculture Committee, behind Boozman. Busy with leadership duties, McConnell rarely appears at Agriculture Committee hearings but exercises influence on its work. He is credited with legalization of industrial hemp as part of the 2018 farm law.
Three weeks ago, McConnell said time was running out for the farm bill, which often is a multi-month legislative marathon. “Congress needs to do its job and get this legislation across the finish line — swiftly,” he said.
SNAP could be a major hurdle for the 2023 farm bill. The anti-hunger program is forecast to account for $4 of every $5 in farm bill expenditures. House Republicans won an expansion of SNAP work requirements in the debt limit bill and could try again in the farm bill.
To listen to a recording of the McConnell news conference, click here.