DTN Ag Policy Blog

House of Representatives GOP leaders on Thursday received a letter from 140 Republican colleagues calling on leadership to ensure a farm bill is part of any "must-pass" legislation during the lame-duck Congress.

The letter reflects both GOP support, but also suggests as many as 80 other Republicans in the House don't back the bill -- a key reason why the House Agriculture Committee's bill cleared the committee in May but has not been put on the floor.

Congress passed a continuing resolution this week to ensure the federal government will continue operating through Dec. 20, then lawmakers took a break to campaign for office. The only opportunity to pass a farm bill will come in a lame-duck session after the election.

Democrats in the House overwhelmingly oppose the bill because of $30 billion in cuts to projected spending over 10 years for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) along with GOP efforts to create a $50 billion budget score by stripping authority away from the Agriculture secretary's control of the Commodity Credit Corp.

In their letter, the 140 GOP members told their four House leaders "the agriculture sector has faced numerous headwinds."

Lawmakers noted, "A combination of catastrophic factors including illegal retaliatory tariffs on agricultural products, supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events, crippling inflation, and high interest rates continue to fuel an impending financial crisis in farm country."

The letter added, "Farmers and ranchers do not have the luxury of waiting until next Congress for the enactment of an effective farm bill. Inflation has driven production costs to the highest on record, meanwhile commodity prices across the board have fallen precipitously, creating a severe margin squeeze on farm and ranch families."

The letter continued, "A $34 billion projected loss in crop cash receipts is expected to result in the sharpest two-year decline in net cash income in our nation's history: 31% ($69.2 billion). Farm debt, $540 billion, is the highest ever, both nominally and when adjusted for inflation. These factors show no signs of abating for all major commodities. Yet, despite the overwhelming increase in production costs, declining commodity cash receipts, and the record-breaking decline in net cash income, without intervention, federal support provided to agriculture in 2024 is projected to reach its lowest level since 1982, a year that presaged the farm financial crisis of the mid-1980s."

The 140 House members said Congress has the opportunity to help by "putting more 'farm' back in the farm bill" and passing The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024. The bill passed out committee in May on a 33-21 vote with four Democrats joining 29 Republicans in backing the bill.

"This legislation is the product of input received at seven House Committee on Agriculture hosted listening sessions, and numerous round tables and town halls across the country, is reflective of the over 2,600 priorities submitted to the Committee on Agriculture by 172 members of the Republican Conference, is supported by hundreds of stakeholder organizations, and is worthy of our time, attention, and effort as the 118th Congress comes to a close."

The lawmakers added, "The negative impacts of failing to act will not just stop at the farm gate, but will also hit Main Street businesses, rural communities, and the national economy. Among some commodities and regions, calamitous impacts in farm country, such as those felt during the crisis of the 1980s, are a genuine possibility. Therefore, we respectfully urge that the enactment of H.R. 8467, or similar legislation that makes meaningful investments in farmers, ranchers, and rural communities, is among the top priorities of the Republican Conference and that this be considered a 'must-pass' item in the lame duck session of the 118th Congress."

The GOP members added, "The Biden-Harris Administration and Democratic Congressional Leadership have failed to appreciate the dire situation in farm country and have stood in the way of progress on a highly effective farm bill, however we remain hopeful that after election year politics have run their course, they will join in a bipartisan fashion to do what's right for the country. All Americans, particularly our rural constituents, deserve nothing less and we stand ready to assist in this endeavor as the end of the year approaches."

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

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