By Ed Elfmann
Winter has turned to spring in Washington, D.C., the cherry blossoms are sprouting, but we are still waiting on a long-term Farm Bill. The 2018 Farm Bill was extended last fall to expire on Sept. 30 this year. Congress provided this extension to allow for more time to finish the 2023 (now 2024) Farm Bill. Despite this extension, a long-term Farm Bill does not appear to be close to being finished.
There were rumors of a markup of the 2024 Farm Bill potentially happening in March in the House Agriculture Committee. With March almost over, that is very unlikely. However, there has been a renewed push for the House Agriculture Committee to hold a markup in April. We will see if this actually occurs.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is a very different story. At this point, the committee is not close to having a markup of any kind. In fact, there may be competing Democratic (majority) and Republican (minority) Farm Bills. Never say never, but the chances of the Senate putting together a Farm Bill decrease daily.
This is all very unfortunate for agricultural bankers. There has been real progress made on increasing Farm Service Agency Farm Ownership Loans to $3.5 million and Farm Operating Loans to $3 million – a change for which the American Bankers Association has advocated for more than the past seven years. Additionally, there are a lot of negotiated changes to the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Programs – especially around farm structure and eligibility. Without the passage of a long-term Farm Bill, we won’t see these changes take place.
If a Farm Bill markup happens in the House Agriculture Committee, and a vote on the House floor, we will learn a lot about where Congress stands on the 2024 Farm Bill. In reality, we are likely looking at another extension through the end of the year, or even to Sept. 30, 2025. Time will tell.
