Ag Policy Blog

OMAHA (DTN) -- Is a farm bill or disaster aid on the table for agriculture to pass before the end of the year?

Congress will return to Washington on Tuesday for a lame-duck session of Congress with Republicans debating just how much they want to get done before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

The big issue for Congress will be passing another government spending bill. Congress hasn't hammered out a full budget for fiscal year 2025, which began in October. The current budget deal expires on Dec. 20. The Washington Post reported on Monday that lawmakers are looking at passing another budget extension -- the same as they did a year ago -- that would run until March. That would allow time for both the new administration and Congress to start planning before passing the annual spending bill.

For farmers, the farm bill is still out there with no definitive rallying cry demanding that Congress complete the bill now.

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., the expected chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee next year, told Brownfield News that getting the farm bill done is the top priority, but time will press lawmakers during the lame-duck session. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., the retiring committee chair, has not weighed in on the possibilities since the election.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who will likely into the role of Agriculture Committee ranking member, was quoted by the Red River Farm Network that she would like to get the farm bill done.

"I just think we're going to be better off when we're doing all the disaster relief for the Southern states, and we're doing that with good reason. There's going to be funding that's spent on that if the farm bill gets jettisoned as kind of an orphan at the end of next year. With an extension, it might be harder for us to get some of the resources that we want," Klobuchar told RRFN.

There's also the question of disaster aid.

In the House, Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., a member of the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement to the news outlet The Floridian, that a farm bill passed under Trump would be more favorable.

"I think we would get a better farm bill if we do (it) under the Trump admin," Cammack stated.

Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has not weighed in since the election.

In the coming days, leaders in both the House and Senate will detail their priorities for the lame-duck session.

DISASTER PACKAGE

Lawmakers from states hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton were calling for more specific aid packages before the election. A disaster package in some form or another will likely come out of the lame-duck session.

On Monday, the American Farm Bureau Federation's economic team highlighted that farmers have faced a gap of $20 billion in uncovered disaster losses going back to 2022.

"To date, only one-third of 2022 uncovered losses from natural disasters have been addressed through ad hoc relief programs, and uncovered losses from 2023 and 2024 are still unaddressed," AFBF's Market Intel report stated.

Congress last authorized disaster aid for farmers at the end of 2022, which was $3.74 billion, but left roughly $6.74 billion unfunded. That added to the controversy when USDA changed its disaster funding formula to pay out a higher percentage of aid to smaller farmers who were less likely to carry crop insurance.

In 2023, AFBF stated there were nearly $10 billion in agricultural losses from disasters that were not covered by insurance. In 2024, there was already more than $4.1 billion in such losses before Helene, Milton and wildfires in states such as North Dakota.

AFBF's analysis said the partial 2022 payments from USDA under the Emergency Relief Program, along with mounting losses from recent disasters, "highlights the urgent need for a robust, timely disaster relief response that only Congress can deliver."

ABFB pointed to a bill offered by Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., the Agriculture Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024. That bill proposed $14 billion for farmers and ranchers due to 2023 losses.

Boozman told Brownfield there are other options, including the FARM Act, introduced by Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., a member of the House Agriculture Committee. The FARM Act, introduced in late October, would provide aid to farmers when their revenue falls below the costs of production "due to circumstances beyond their control."

Kelly's bill has support from 48 House members, including at least one key Democrat, Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga.

CLIMATE CLAWBACK?

As part of those farm bill discussions, Politico reported Republicans will look to roll back any unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act at USDA, which would equal roughly $13 billion in unspent conservation dollars designated for climate-smart practices.

Republicans also will likely put more limits on future nutrition spending, Politico noted.

COMMODITY CREDIT CORP. DOLLARS

One key area to watch in any farm bill talks is where the Republican Congress comes down on the Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) now that a nominee from Trump will control USDA's purse strings.

The House version of the farm bill would freeze the agriculture secretary's access to those funds because USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack used $3.1 billion for climate-smart grants. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., argued the budget savings were significantly higher than the Congressional Budget Office forecast.

Under the first Trump administration, then-Secretary Sonny Perdue spent $23 billion in 2018 and 2019 to boost farm incomes with trade-aid payments. Given the focus again on another tariff war, the CCC might again be needed to offset lost export sales.

AFBF: "Growing $20 Billion Disaster Loss Gap Threatens Farmers," https://www.fb.org/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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