House proposes funding measure with 1-year farm bill extension

The House of Representatives proposed legislation late Tuesday to fund the government through March 2025. The bill also includes a year-long extension of the 2018 Agriculture Innovation Act, known as the farm bill, plus $10 billion in additional aid for farmers and ranchers.

Included in the $10 billion is emergency economic aid that aims to address substantial losses stemming from weather and market challenges, offering critical financial support to the farming community.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson emphasized the importance of this assistance, describing it as a necessary “financial bridge” to help mitigate the current downturn in the agricultural economy.

Looking to the future, Thompson expressed a goal to pass a comprehensive five-year farm bill in the upcoming Congress. This legislation would aim to strengthen the farm safety net, reducing the need for recurring economic aid.

“Looking ahead to the 119th Congress, I hope to move quickly to enact a five-year farm bill that aligns the farm safety net with the needs of producers, among many other policies, to minimize the need for annual economic aid,” wrote Thompson. 

American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall in a news release also asked Congress to pass the bill.

“The high cost of supplies, low commodity prices, and out-of-reach interest rates are a recipe for farm failures without help,” said Duvall.

Duvall stated that nearly 10,000 Farm Bureau members contacted lawmakers, urging them to prioritize agriculture.

“There is no doubt in my mind that for many farmers, the critical funding in this bill could make the difference between planting a crop next year and giving up,” he said.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Glenn Thompson, a Republican, told the Associated Press that while he had hoped for greater economic relief for farmers, “it’s a great start.”

“I think it’s going to send the right signal to the markets that most farmers and ranchers are going to be able to get eligible for the credit they need to borrow in order to plant a crop or raise a herd,” Thompson said, the AP reported.

Duvall called on Congress to pass the legislation and come back in January prepared to address the challenges confronting agriculture.

One of the areas that the House bill does not protect is approximately $14 billion in climate-focused conservation funds from the Inflation Reduction Act by including this money in the farm bill’s baseline funding.

“If Congress really wanted to make farmers more economically resilient while also investing in the stability of our food system, they should do two things: give farmers the tools to better withstand and recover from extreme weather and persuade the incoming administration not to start new trade wars,” wrote Melissa Kaplan, senior manager of government affairs for the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.