House Farm Bill Mark-Up Set for May 23

*This story has been updated to say that House Agriculture Committee Democrats offered a counter proposal to GT Thompson’s Farm Bill funding proposal. An earlier version of this story said House Ag Committee Democrats had proposed their own bill. We regret the error.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson said in a press release on Wednesday that the Ag Committee is set to mark-up his version of the 2024 Farm Bill on Thursday, May 23. In the press release, he said that he hopes “for unanimous support in this endeavor to bring stability to producers, protect our nation’s food security, and revitalize rural America.”

“This bill is a product of an extensive and transparent process, which included soliciting feedback from Members of both political parties, stakeholder input from across the nation, and some tough conversations,” Thompson said. “Each title of this farm bill reflects a commitment to the American farmer and viable pathways to funding those commitments, and is equally responsive to the politics of the 118^th Congress.”

Mark(up) your calendars → We will markup the 2024 #FarmBill on May 23rd! pic.twitter.com/5bh8Q4oN8x

— House Committee on Agriculture (@HouseAgGOP) May 1, 2024

Visit this previous Farm Policy News article for more on what’s in Thompson’s Farm Bill proposal.

House Ag Democrats Offer Funding Counter Proposal

While the House Ag Committee is set to mark-up Thompson’s version of the Farm Bill, Agri-Pulse’s Philip Brasher reported Monday that “House Agriculture Committee Democrats have offered a counter proposal on the farm bill that suggests using USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation funding authority to shore up commodity programs and crop insurance, according to a summary of the proposal obtained by Agri-Pulse.”

“The one-page summary, delivered to the committee’s Republican majority during last week’s congressional break, opposes eliminating USDA’s Section 5 CCC authority entirely, but says the committee’s ranking member, David Scott of Georgia, proposes using ‘alternative methods of capturing CCC funds,'” Brasher reported. “The summary provides no detail of how that could be done but does spell out how CCC could be used. Those priorities include funding ‘a significant investment in the farm safety net,’ including making ‘crop insurance more affordable for beginning farmers’ and providing ‘enhancements’ to the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs as well as commodity marketing loans.”

Brasher reported that in the proposal, “committee Democrats doubled down on their opposition to impose restrictions on the Thrifty Food Plan, the economic model that is used to estimate the cost of food and set SNAP benefits. …Democrats also continue to insist that the Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding be limited to climate-related practices, and they also continued to be opposed to any cuts in nutrition funding.”

Senate Democrats Release Own Bill Proposal

In addition to the House Democrats proposal, Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported Wednesday that Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie “Stabenow said her bill is trying not to cross ‘bright lines’ to garner a bipartisan vote in committee and on the Senate floor. She doesn’t have a date for a mark-up but said she will continue ‘serious, bipartisan negotiations’ to reach an agreement before setting a markup date.”

The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act provides a strong, bipartisan path forward to get the Farm Bill across the finish line. It makes investments to support our farmers, helps hardworking families make ends meet & improves the quality of life in rural communities. pic.twitter.com/hLShu1n6S5

— Sen. Debbie Stabenow (@SenStabenow) May 1, 2024

“Under Stabenow’s plan, commodity crops would see a minimum 5% increase in reference prices, but cotton, peanuts and rice producers would see higher increases in reference prices,” Clayton reported. “On reference prices, she said the ‘accelerator’ language in the 2018 farm bill already assures most commodities would see a 10% to 15% increase in the PLC/ARC prices. Her plan would create a new accelerator provision for cotton, peanuts and rice aimed to ensure at least a 5% increase.”

“The Senate plan would expand the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) by boosting the premium subsidy to 80% and increasing coverage levels to 88% to align more with ARC,” Clayton reported. “…Stabenow said her framework also includes more tweaks to policies such as whole farm insurance to expand policy options for small and medium-sized farmers.”

“Defending the Biden administration’s move, Stabenow’s plan doesn’t make any changes to the Thrifty Food Plan,” Clayton reported. “Instead, she said her proposal squeezed some efficiencies out of USDA’s nutrition programs.”