SNAP cuts, school lunches and crop protections: 2024 Farm Bill proposal in simple terms
The deadline for a new Farm Bill is quickly approaching — and with the upcoming U.S. presidential election and political campaigns at their peak, some critics say it may not even happen until next year.
Nonetheless, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate unveiled overviews of their Farm Bill drafts on May 1.
Here's everything you need to know about the Farm Bill.
When is the deadline and other key dates for a new Farm Bill?
The 2018 Farm Bill was set to expire last year, but lawmakers extended it for another year. Congress is required to sign a new bill by Sept. 30, or the bill will extend until Sept. 30, 2025. The bill is revised every five years.
The House is expected to unveil a complete draft of the upcoming Farm Bill by the end of the week ahead of the committee markup on May 23. According to the Library of Congress, the markup is the key step for a bill to advance to the floor and determines whether the measure pending before a committee will be recommended to the full Senate and whether it should be amended in any substantive way.
A markup concludes when the committee agrees, by majority vote, to report the bill to the chamber.
Who drafts the Farm Bill?
Members of Congress who sit on the Senate and House Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry are primarily responsible for drafting farm bills.
Are Republicans and Democrats in agreement?
The 2018 Farm Bill was extended last September amid stalled negotiations between the Republican and Democratic Parties, mostly witnessed in the differing bills between the House and Senate. On May 1, both Agriculture Chairs for the House, G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.), and Senate, Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), released new individual Farm Bill drafts that again rivaled one another.
One of the biggest challenges: cannabis and hemp.
In the House's draft, there is no mention of cannabis, while the Senate's draft "lowers regulatory barriers for farmers who are growing industrial hemp for grain and fiber" and "eliminates the ban on persons who were previously convicted for a felony relating to a controlled substance from participating in the program or producing hemp."
More: After giving the green light in 2019, Texas Senate is looking to review, revise hemp law
What is in the Farm Bill?
The Farm Bill is a $1.5 trillion program that consists of a lot more than just crops and livestock. In fact, it impacts everyone in one way or the other, whether through school lunch and government assistance or support of natural resources, such as our forests.
The legislation is broken into 12 sections, or titles. Each title addresses different aspects of agriculture and related sectors. Here's a summary of each title:
Commodities: Covers price and income support for farmers producing non-perishable crops, dairy and sugar, along with agricultural disaster assistance.
Conservation: Includes programs for natural resource conservation on working lands and land retirement and easement programs.
Trade: Covers food export subsidy programs and international food aid.
Nutrition: Encompasses SNAP and other nutrition programs to assist low-income Americans, as well as school lunches.
Credit: Focuses on federal loan programs to help farmers access financial credit.
Rural development: Supports rural economic growth through business and community development, rural housing and infrastructure.
Research, extension, and related matters: Funds farm and food research, education and extension programs.
Forestry: Addresses forest-specific conservation programs.
Energy: Encourages biofuel production, renewable energy installation and energy-related research.
Horticulture: Includes farmers market programs, research funding for horticultural crops and organic farming initiatives.
Crop Insurance: Provides subsidies for crop insurance premiums and supports the development of insurance policies.
Miscellaneous: Covers various advocacy and outreach areas such as support for beginning, socially disadvantaged, and veteran farmers, agricultural labor safety, workforce development and livestock health.
What are some of the recommended changes in the drafts for the new Farm Bill?
There are some fairly significant changes in the initial drafts of the new Farm Bill. Some of the major changes in suggested drafts and their respective chambers:
SNAP Cuts (U.S. House): The proposal suggests maintaining the Thrifty Food Plan without factoring in inflation adjustments, potentially leading to a reduction of approximately $30 billion in SNAP funding over the next decade. Over time, these cuts would amplify, resulting in diminishing adequacy of SNAP benefits.
Price Loss Coverage Increase (U.S. House): Price Loss Coverage Reference prices would increase by 10% to 20% depending on the commodity, simultaneously enhancing income protection for growers through the Agriculture Risk Coverage program and crop insurance.
Reallocate Conservation Funding (U.S. House): Incorporating Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding into the bill, the U.S. House proposes to remove the restrictions that limit money for climate-smart practices. Instead the funding would be reallocated toward modifications to the Conservation Reserve Program and reauthorize funding for feral swine eradication. It would also create a new Forest Conservation Easement Program.
Support for Underserved Producers (U.S. Senate): The Senate's bill seeks to increase financial support and price loss coverage for underserved producers (non-male and communities of color). The Senate also increases PLC by only 3 to 5%.
Rural Childcare Improvements (U.S. Senate): Prioritize projects for childcare facilities in rural areas.
Environmental Quality Incentives Updates (U.S. Senate): Expands the purposes of EQIP to include "promoting environmental quality and climate change adaptation and mitigation as compatible goals with agricultural production and forest management; assisting producers with complying with local, State, and national regulatory requirements concerning climate change adaptation, mitigation, and resilience; and providing flexible assistance to producers to install and maintain conservation practices that sustain food and fiber production while sequestering carbon, increasing drought resilience, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and conserving energy."
Farm Transitions (U.S. House): Reauthorize the Commission on Farm Transitions-Needs for 2050 and make improvement based on Committee Member Yadira Caraveo’s (D-Colo.) bipartisan legislation.
Farmland Tracking (U.S. House): Refine reporting mandates within the Agriculture Foreign Investment Disclosure Act to enhance monitoring of acquisitions of U.S. farmland by Chinese and other foreign entities.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 2024 Farm Bill explainer: SNAP, school lunch, conservation, crops
