Year-End Package Has $10 Billion in Economic Relief for Agriculture

Congressional leaders have agreed on $10 billion in financial aid to farmers to offset lower commodity prices and high production costs, said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday. The money would be part of a must-pass bill to fund the government for the next three months.

“So I think what you’ll see reflected in this final package is $10 billion,” Johnson said during a news conference. “The CR [continuing resolution] is coming together. Bipartisan work is ongoing. We’re almost there.”

The package also included another one-year extension of the 2018 farm law, authorization of year-round sales of E15, and $20 billion in disaster relief, according to language that circulated on Tuesday evening. Funding for the government will run out on Friday. The stop-gap bill would provide funding through March 14.

“Congress must see this deal through,” said president Rod Larew of the National Farmers Union. “Family farmers and ranchers cannot afford any more delays, and frankly, neither can the rest of the country.”

“Both the disaster assistance and economic aid are vital to keeping thousands of producers in business during unprecedented market conditions,” said the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. “These will serve as a bridge until the new Congress can write a five-year farm bill that addresses the current challenges facing the ag economy.”

Farm groups began pushing for so-called economic aid this fall when it became clear that the moribund farm bill was deadlocked. The USDA forecasts net farm income, a measure of profitability, at $140.7 billion this year, the fourth-highest ever, but $40 billion less than in 2022. Receipts for corn and soybeans, the two largest field crops, would be off by a combined $23.5 billion from 2023, while livestock receipts would be higher than expected.

Some conservative Republicans rebelled at the rising cost of the year-end package. “So am I voting for it? No, I’m not,” said Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina. Republicans have a seven-vote majority in the House, so Johnson needs near-uniform support. At the start of the week, farm groups said they would try to torpedo the continuing resolution if it failed to include economic aid.

Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer said approval of year-round sales of E15, a 15% blend of ethanol into gasoline, “will put an end to years of patchwork regulations and finally make nationwide year-round E15 a reality.”

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the farm bill extension did not capture billions of dollars in climate mitigation funding for use in USDA conservation programs. “From here, the 2025 farm bill re-authorization becomes an even more important moment to recoup a small fraction of the conservation investment left on the table today,” said Mike Lavender, NSAC policy director. In May, the CBO said $13 billion was involved.

A C-SPAN video of Johnson’s news conference was available here.