The “very real and damaging consequences” of Congress’ failure to pass a modernized farm bill are brought to light in its new analysis, according to American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). The analysis by its economists provides a clearer picture of major impacts of relying on the antiquated 2018 farm bill, including the likely loss of more family farms in the U.S. The farm bill is supposed to be revised and renewed every five years, but the current farm bill expired last September.

The Market Intel highlights five specific impacts of the failure to pass a new farm bill: a weakened farmer safety net, less future funding for sustainability efforts, a gap in coverage for dairy farmers, further erosion of U.S. leadership in public agricultural research as China takes the lead, and reduced overall economic and national security.

AFBF President Zippy Duvall said, “If Congress fails to pass a new and improved farm bill, they will be responsible for leaving farmers in a lurch at a time when we’ve lost more than 140,000 family farms in just five years.”

Further, Duvall pointed out that the agricultural landscape was “drastically different” when the current farm bill was drafted in 2018. “Policy that pre-dates a global pandemic, historic inflation, skyrocketing supply costs and geopolitical uncertainty just won’t cut it today or next year. Congress must not put farmers, ranchers and America’s families on the back burner.”

While the House Agriculture Committee has done its part so far, Duvall said it is now time for the Senate Agriculture Committee to move the process forward.

AFBF said that reference prices, the point at which federal programs compensate farmers when markets bottom out, particularly need to be modernized. The analysis states that while a few commodities’ reference prices have increased due to a price escalator added in the 2018 law, all lag significantly behind increases in cost-of-production.

Testifying last week before the House Agriculture Committee, Minnesota Corn Growers President Dana Allen-Tully, Ph.D., said farmers in her state and across the country need the support of a reauthorized and strengthened farm bill.
“Unless conditions change, I believe we’re heading into a perfect storm, a storm that I don’t think will be fully appreciated until early next year when farmers try to get loans but are unable to do so because they cannot demonstrate the ability to cash flow,” she stated.

While farmers can feed and fuel the economy, she said, they need a strong farm bill that will assist when the chips are down.

Allen-Tully emphasized the need for policies that reflect the realities of farming today. “The stakes of farming are so incredibly high – higher than I ever remember them to be. We are putting everything we have on the line every single year for very thin and oftentimes negative margins.”

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) recently hosted Allen-Tully and over 200 corn growers to lobby on Capitol Hill.

NCGA and AFBF, along with over 500 other organizations, also recently sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to come together and pass a bipartisan farm bill.

With Congress now in recess until September, as well as the upcoming elections in November, the fate of a 2024 farm bill remains in question.

At the Southern Peanut Growers Conference on July 19, U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., the longest serving member on the House Agriculture Committee, noted that the presidential campaign season is bringing extra challenges in passing a farm bill this year. Lucas told the press he remains confident a farm bill will be passed and signed by the president. He just doesn’t know when it will happen, although the talk is that a farm bill will be passed in the lame duck session of conference following the November elections.

For now, Cody Lyon, managing director of advocacy and political affairs for AFBF, said the August recess is an important time in the political process.

“August recess is a phrase used for congressional members to come back to the district or the state, spend time with their constituents, spend time interacting with different groups within their district, and kind of learn what is it those constituents want, what problems they're having, carry on a variety of different policy conversations so that they can address their big concerns,” Lyon said during a recent AFBF podcast.

The face-to-face meeting of a constituent or farmer and rancher with their member of Congress is easily the most influential advocacy tactic anybody can do, he added. “There's the ability to ask a question, get an answer, have a follow up, do something that you can show the member of Congress what's happening on a farm or ranch.”