Year-end package has $10 billion in economic relief for agriculture
Congressional leaders have agreed on $10 billion in financial aid to farmers to offset lower commodity prices and high production costs, said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday. The money would be part of a must-pass bill to fund the government for the next three months.
Democrats in Congress propose $10 billion in economic aid to farmers
With Congress due to adjourn in 10 days, Democrats proposed $10 billion in economic assistance to farmers nationwide to buffer the impact of lower commodity prices. Senior farm-state Republicans have said substantial aid is needed — $15 billion was mentioned on Wednesday — but House GOP leaders reportedly objected to the offset Democrats would use to pay for the aid.
Farm groups prod Congress for economic relief
With two weeks left in the congressional schedule for this year, time is running out for lawmakers to provide financial relief to agriculture, said two farm groups. "It is imperative that they address the well-defined and fully substantiated needs of farmers just trying to hold on for another season," said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
House Ag chairman: Farm bill delay likely unless the Dems’ ‘attitude really changes’
The top agricultural issue for the lame duck session will be disaster and financial aid to farmers. The farm bill, meanwhile, already a year overdue, is likely to be delayed until 2025 "unless the attitude really changes," said House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson on a podcast.
Farm bailout bill would cost $21 billion, say analysts
The $21 billion cost of the farm bailout bill filed by Mississippi Rep. Mike Kelly may be too large for Congress to swallow, and it could preclude passage of the new farm bill, said four analysts on Tuesday. Kelly says the bill will keep farmers in operation despite high costs and lower commodity prices, and it is supported by a dozen large farm groups.
Turnover is certain on House Agriculture roster, elections will determine its scale
One-fourth of the members of the House Agriculture Committee are in tight re-election races, according to political handicappers, a factor in the likely upheaval of the committee roster in 2025. Turnover is a fact of life on the committee — only half of its current members served on the …
Re-election uncertain for three farm bill crossovers
While Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop seems to be coasting to his 17th term in the House, the three other Democrats who voted in committee for the Republican-written farm bill are scuffling to win a second term. One of them, Yadira Caraveo, with a winning margin of 1,632 votes in 2022, is challenged by a conservative Republican state legislator in Colorado's most competitive House district.
Odds favor a new farm bill by end of year, says Vilsack
Time is running out for Congress to agree on the new farm bill, now a year overdue, but a "common sense, reasonable, practical" package is still possible, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday, declaring himself an optimist. "I think there's better odds than not that we get it done," he said at a White House conference.
Vilsack says Republicans ‘just don’t have the votes’ for farm bill
The Republican-controlled House has not advanced a new farm bill because "they just don't have the votes" to pass a bill that is $33 billion over budget, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack over the weekend. Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow was more "practical," he said, by proposing a smaller increase in so-called reference prices and finding the money to pay for it.
Farmers need emergency assistance to offset lower income, says Boozman
The government should provide emergency aid to farmers to help them weather sharply lower commodity prices, said Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, the senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, on Tuesday. Prompt action on emergency aid should be coupled with enactment of a new farm bill yet this year, he said.
Political polarization makes farm bill extension more likely, says analyst
The traditional urban and rural coalition that carried the farm bill to passage in the past is losing its appeal, said farm policy expert Jonathan Coppess on the farmdoc daily blog, pointing to partisan polarization and "negative-sum factional polarization."
Stabenow says she will ‘do everything in my power to pass a farm bill’
With Congress resuming work after its summer recess, Senate Agriculture chairmwoman Debbie Stabenow said she would do "everything in my power to pass a farm bill" this year. Farm-state lawmakers have been deadlocked for weeks over SNAP funding, higher crop subsidy spending, and climate mitigation.
Chairman vows to overrule CBO on question of overspending in GOP farm bill
The Republican-written House farm bill is $33 billion over budget and fails to pay for its large increase in crop subsidies, said congressional scorekeepers in an official cost estimate. House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson, who brushed aside earlier warnings about over-spending, said if the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office won't change its mind, he would rely on the House Budget Committee to overrule the CBO.
House Ag chairman blasts ‘one-sided’ farm bill coalition and ‘meddling Senate Democrat’
The farm bill coalition — the rural and urban alliance credited with carrying farm bills to enactment — "is a one-sided talking point," said House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson on Tuesday in insisting on a $53 billion increase in farm subsidies and cuts in SNAP. Time is running out for passage of the new farm bill this year, and farm groups, silent for weeks, are now calling for prompt congressional action.
Reject SNAP cuts in farm bill, says anti-hunger letter
More than 1,400 groups said in a letter to Congress on Tuesday that they "will oppose any farm bill," including the bill approved by the House Agriculture Committee in May, "which proposes cuts in SNAP, including restricting future Thrifty Food Plan benefit adjustments." Progress on the legislation has been deadlocked for weeks over disagreements on SNAP cuts, climate funding, and higher crop subsidy spending.
Second year in a row of high SNAP payment error rates
The SNAP payment error rate ticked upward to 11.68 percent in fiscal 2023, the second straight year of sharply higher post-pandemic error rates, said the Agriculture Department. Farm-state Republicans, who want to cut SNAP spending, said the new farm bill should eliminate any tolerance for overpayments by states, which administer SNAP.
Misleading and inaccurate arguments retard farm bill progress, says Stabenow
Congress may be forced to keep the 2018 farm law in operation into the new year because of "disingenuous and misleading" arguments by Republicans that are preventing progress on its replacement, said Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow. The new farm bill is nine months overdue so "it's time to get real," said Stabenow in a five-page statement.
SNAP costs fall by 5 percent in new CBO estimate
The largest U.S. anti-hunger program, SNAP, will cost $59 billion less over the coming decade than thought in February because food prices are moderating, said the Congressional Budget Office. The updated CBO baseline also indicated that estimated savings in the House Republican farm bill were too high and not nearly enough to pay for the plan’s proposed increases in crop subsidy and crop insurance spending.
GOP uses ‘counterfeit money’ to pay for farm bill, says Vilsack
House Republicans are building unrealistic expectations in farm country by relying on “counterfeit money” to pay for a $50 billion expansion of crop subsidies and crop insurance in the new farm bill, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The House Agriculture Committee was expected to approve Chairman Glenn Thompson’s proposed bill on Thursday in a vote that would split along party lines.