Farm Bill

Farm Bill issues related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP- food stamps) appear to be hampering progress on the measure this week.  Today’s update highlights recent news items that discuss the current impasse over SNAP provisions that are currently being discussed.

A budget agreement reached last week included language that paves the way for cotton producers to participate in Title I commodity programs of the Farm Bill.  After previous unsuccessful attempts to facilitate this change to the 2014 Farm Bill, the new provision allows cottonseed to be an eligible program commodity effective with the 2018 crop year.

Today’s update looks briefly at the SNAP (food stamps) program within the Farm Bill.  The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report on Thursday that examined the program in detail.  This update looks at core points from the ERS report with particular focus on issues relating to “block granting” the program to States, and program work requirements.

Los Angeles Times writer Lisa Mascaro reported late last week that, “The federal government began shutting down early Saturday after a flurry of dramatic, last-minute negotiations failed to end the congressional deadlock over a spending bill before a midnight deadline.” However, a New York Times article from Sunday noted that, “The government shutdown will enter its third day. Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, delayed a procedural vote on a stopgap spending bill until noon on Monday, as a bipartisan group of senators appeared to be inching toward a compromise.” The ongoing budget standoff could create increased uncertainty with respect to the Congressional to-do list, including the Farm Bill.

An update posted on Tuesday at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) blog indicated that, “Less than two weeks into the new year, and Congress already has an incredibly full plate. Both the House and Senate return to work this week (the Senate has officially been back since last week), and will need to immediately dig in their massive to-do lists, not least of which include finalizing fiscal year (FY) 2018 appropriations legislation, preparing for the FY 2019 budget, and tackling the soon-to-expire 2014 Farm Bill.”

At the end of 2017, Congress passed a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, but failed to complete work on an $81-billion disaster aid package. In addition to assistance for hurricanes and wildfires, the disaster package also included provisions dealing with the cotton and dairy programs.  Today’s update provides a brief recap of some of the pre-holiday legislative activity, and highlights news articles discussing the legislative agenda in the new year.

Today’s update looks at recent news items discussing the Farm Bill, with specific focus on the potential timing of when Congress may take up the legislation.  Lawmaker perspectives on provisions in the bill, including CRP issues, payment limits, and SNAP, are also discussed.

Last week, Don Wick, a farm broadcaster from the Red River Farm Network (Grand Forks, N.D.), sat down with several lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss current Farm Bill issues.  Notably, he spoke with both the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Mike Conaway, as well as the Senate Ag Committee Chairman Pat Roberts.  Today’s update includes key elements from these lawmaker conversations with the Red River Farm Network.

Jacqui Fatka reported on Friday at Farm Futures Online that, “House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, said [on October 25th] that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has sped up its analysis of farm bill provisions that the committee is considering. He told reporters that the committee is still on track to bring out a bill before the end of the year or early 2018.”

On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee held its ninth Farm Bill hearing where the panel turned its attention to rural development and energy programs.  Recall that a House Agriculture Subcommittee explored similar issues back in March.  Today’s update provides a brief overview of yesterday’s hearing with particular focus on rural broadband Internet access and the opioid epidemic, two issues that were raised by lawmakers.

Last week, the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) released an analysis of the Federal crop insurance portfolio titled, “The Risk Management Safety Net: Market Penetration and Market Potential.” Today’s update recaps some of the key findings from the RMA report.

On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a Farm Bill hearing that focused on nutrition programs and the 2018 Farm Bill.  This was the Committee’s eighth Farm Bill hearing, and followed field hearings in both Kansas and Michigan, as well as Committee meetings on the farm economy, agricultural research, conservation issues and commodity, credit, and crop insurance programs.  The hearing focused on fraud in the SNAP program (food stamps), and specifically highlighted program payment error rates and misreporting of program costs by some states.

Today’s update continues the focus on news items highlighting the attention Representatives and Senators placed on Farm Bill issues during the August recess.  As lawmakers get set to return to Washington, D.C. next week, today’s update provides an overview of some of this summer’s Farm Bill constituent engagements, and also looks briefly at news articles describing the current state of the agricultural economy.

Earlier this month, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report titled, “Farm Safety-Net Payments Under the 2014 Farm Bill: Comparison by Program Crop,” which stated in part that, “Through the first three years of the 2014 farm bill (2014 through 2016), USDA has spent over $38 billion on commodity-specific farm program outlays. Annually, commodity-specific outlays are estimated at $12.7 billion per year, including $7.5 billion for CCC [Commodity Credit Corporation] programs and $5.2 billion in FCIC [Federal Crop Insurance Corporation] crop insurance premium subsidies.” Today’s update focuses on several highlights of the CRS report.

Today’s update looks at recent news articles highlighting agricultural economic variables, as well as Farm Bill observations from lawmakers, and some of the ag related activities Members have held with constituents during the August recess.  Today’s overview also includes observations from Bloomberg writer Alan Bjerga on the link between these current economic conditions and policy perspectives lawmakers may take back with them to Washington, D.C. when the Farm Bill debate gets more focused this fall.

Lawmakers are hearing a variety of Farm Bill concerns from constituents and agricultural interest groups as work on formulating policies for the reauthorization of the omnibus measure continues.   Today’s update looks at recent news articles that highlight some of these issues, including the negative ramifications of localized drought in North Dakota and parts of Iowa.

Following Monday’s House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Listening Session in Texas, lawmakers headed north to Minnesota on Thursday, the home state of Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, to host another forum to gather unfiltered input on farm policy issues from agricultural stakeholders.  And members of Congress went west, to California on Saturday, to hold their fourth Farm Bill listening session. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin on Thursday, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue kicked off the Department’s “Back to Our Roots” RV tour that is focusing “on getting input on the 2018 farm bill as well as working to increase rural prosperity.” Also, the second Iowa Ag Summit was also held on Saturday in Des Moines where audience participants heard Sec. Perdue, Iowa GOP Senator Chuck Grassley, and other agricultural leaders discuss policy related issues. Today’s update recaps some of the highlights from these recent farm policy linked activities, as well as some general background regarding the Farm Bill and House Ag Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R., Tex.).

Today’s update looks at the latest activity by the House Agriculture Committee on the Farm Bill, a listening session held earlier this week in Texas.