While it sounds scary, it’s not uncommon for the government to fail to meet their own deadlines. A Farm Bill hasn’t been passed on time since the last century and clearly that trend is continuing. Extensions provided in the 2018 Farm Bill keeps it viable through the end of 2023, but there’s still good reason to keep an eye turned to Washington.

“If the government doesn’t do something – either write and approve a new Farm Bill or extend the current one for up to two years – then we revert back to the permanent Farm Bill that was enacted in the 1940s,” said Halderman Vice President Pat Karst. “For our clients, their main concerns from this will be about the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), price supports for crops and dairy, and crop insurance. CRP will continue to be paid but we might not be able to enroll new acres until the new bill is approved.”

Crop insurance should continue without any issues and the same for SNAP benefits, which take up more than 75 percent of the USDAs annual budget.

While nobody wants to operate according to a bill written over 80 years ago, do we even want to perpetuate one from 2018? A lot has happened in five years that probably needs to be accounted for in a new Farm Bill.

“There are fewer and fewer people related to agriculture in the United States in general let alone the members of Congress who sit on the Senate and House Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.” Yet they are responsible for writing the farm bill.

To see who will be writing the next Farm Bill, visit: The House Committee on Agriculture and The US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Farm Bill 101

Original goal: Keep food prices fair for farmers and consumers, ensure an adequate food supply, and protect and sustain the country’s vital natural resources.

Topics covered: Commodities; conservation; nutrition, credit; rural development; research, extension, and related matters; forestry; energy; horticulture; crop insurance and miscellaneous (catch all).