The farm bill “isn’t dead yet,” said Georgia Rep. David Scott, the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, on Monday, although time is running out for Congress to act this year. A spokesman said the senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, was talking to “anyone he can to discuss how we can move the ball forward.”
Progress on the new farm bill has been deadlocked for months by disagreements over SNAP funding, increases in crop subsidy spending, and climate mitigation.
“I am hoping that all four corners of the Agriculture committees can work together to craft a farm bill that can pass the full House and Senate and be signed into law,” said Scott. “I don’t want to get sidetracked by conversations of extensions” of current law. The “four corners” are the four leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees.
Boozman “continues to believe that we need more farm in the farm bill,” said the spokesman. “He intends to keep advocating for that and explaining why that is necessary.” Boozman released a farm bill framework earlier this year that called for a 15 percent increase in reference prices, same as the farm bill approved in May by the House Agriculture Committee. Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow has suggested an increase of at least 5 percent. Reference prices are the triggers for crop subsidy payments.
Some 300 state and national farm groups signed a letter, released on Monday, that called for the enactment of a new farm bill this year. A one-year extension of the 2018 farm law expires on Sept. 30. “It is critical that Congress pass a new farm bill that strengthens the farm safety net as many producers are facing multiple years of not being profitable and that is causing their overall financial situation to deteriorate,” said the letter.
Among its provisions, the Republican-written House farm bill would override California’s Proposition 12 animal welfare law that requires farmers to give breeding sow more room to move about and bars sale of pork produced outside of the state if farms did not match California’s standards. Massachusetts has a similar law. Both were approved in statewide referendums.
No other states have proposed such restrictions since the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Prop 12 in May 2023. Nonetheless, federal action was needed to prevent a proliferation of conflicting standards, said Bryan Humphreys, National Pork Producers Council chief executive. “It’s about preventing that patchwork as we move forward,” he said during an online news conference.