With the Senate returning early from its August recess, a panorama of farm, conservation, ag retailer, insurer, lender and antihunger groups said on Monday that urban and rural America needs prompt passage of the 2018 farm bill. The groups did not mention by name the major issue facing farm bill negotiators – the House proposal for broader work requirements for SNAP recipients – but analysts say the House plan could be a legislative poison pill.
“Americans must have a five-year farm bill farm bill ahead of the Sept. 30 expiration of the Agricultural Act of 2014,” said 150 groups spanning the farm bill spectrum in a letter to the leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees. A sour farm economy and trade war threaten rural America. SNAP accounts for three-fourths of farm bill spending and often is the linchpin for urban support of the legislation.
“While the overall economy has improved and participation has dropped, the need remains significant. We urge the committees to work together to meet the needs of this important population,” said the letter, referring to “vital nutrition programs authorized through the farm bill.”
The letter said farmers and ranchers “cannot afford a short-term extension” of the 2014 law, the most likely option if there is no agreement on the 2018 farm bill. “Lender surveys and our own experience tell us spring could bring a wave of farm closures unless there’s major improvement in the marketplace,” said president Zippy Duvall of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Duvall and Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, said enactment of the 2018 farm bill would assure producers of a federal safety net.
“Completion of farm bill reauthorization in 2018 is within sight for Congress,” wrote six economists at the farmdoc Daily blog, and it hinges on SNAP. House Republicans would require an estimated 7 million “work capable” adults aged 18-59 to work at least 20 hours a week or spend equivalent time in job training or workfare to qualify for food stamps. They also would tighten other eligibility rules.
“The initial defeat on the House floor and the Senate’s decision to avoid a similar fight seem to confirm that the House farm bill path on SNAP is questionable at best,” wrote the analysts. “For House conferees to insist on these SNAP provisions in conference—especially in light of Congress adding billions for cotton and dairy farmers before the farm bill and the Administration’s recent promise of $12 billion in additional farm assistance this year to help assuage the pain of the President’s escalating trade conflicts—would likely leave little chance of a farm bill reauthorization in 2018.”
The Republican chairmen and senior Democrats on the committees said after a meeting in late July that “we’re committed to finding solutions to resolve the differences.” Rep. Collin Peterson, the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said during a broadcast interview that the four leaders have met regularly via conference calls on the farm bill this month, according to The Hagstrom Report. The House is scheduled to re-convene after Labor Day.
To read the letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, click here.