(WASHINGTON D.C.)– An extension of the 2018 Farm Bill and a disaster aid package to help farmers impacted by natural disasters and low commodity prices is one of the top remaining priorities for the 118th Congress before the end of the year. At least, that’s the word from the top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
“So we need economic assistance now,” says Senator John Boozman (R-AR) “And then the other thing we’ve got to do is get a farm bill in place as soon as possible to get the risk management tools up to date so that our farmers are protected in the next growing season or they’re not going to be able to get the loans they need to go forward.”
The Ranking Member on the Senate Ag Committee, speaking during the Thursday episode of Agriculture of America (AOA), indicated that he believes the disaster aid package for farmers and an extension of the 2018 Farm Bill could all get rolled into one big continuing resolution (CR) before the end of the year. In terms of the one year extension and eventually getting a new Farm Bill done early in 2025, Senator Boozman offered some cautious optimism.
“The goal is probably it’ll be a one-year extension, but your listeners should not be confused. That would be the maximum allowed, but there’s no reason that we couldn’t do….theoretically, you could do it in January. You extend it for a year, you’ve got that cushion, but you can do it as soon as possible,” according to Senator Boozman.
He also alluded to what he has been hearing from farmers, agriculture stakeholders, colleagues and more as he has been traveling the country trying to get a new Farm Bill done. He reiterated the need to get it done, but get it done the right way. “When are we going to get this done? We need to get this done. So the good thing is most members of Congress want to get a farm bill done. It’s just a big, complex…It’s going to be about a trillion and a half dollars over 10 years. That’s a lot of money. It’s complex. And people say, well, John, you got to do something. And my answer to that is no, we got to do the right thing. This is a five-year contract. And as I said, we need more farm in the farm bill.”
Senator Boozman also mentioned in regards to the disaster aid for farmers, beyond natural disasters, is being looked at because “right now, the one thing that everybody’s in agreement with and is the same is if you’re growing something, you’re losing money. Our farmers are in a situation because the input costs are so high right now. And then commodity prices are so low, it just doesn’t balance out. And so farmers will be losing anywhere from $50 to $300 an acre in many cases throughout the country. So it’s critical. It’s dire.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson this week, struck a cautious note when asked about the pending disaster supplemental aid for hurricanes and other damage. “What we’re doing right now is the important, methodical job that the House has to go through, really line by line, and assess those requests and make sure that they all are tied to disaster and not superfluous items and issues that are included,” said Speaker Johnson. “That’s what the discussion with the Freedom Caucus was about, and with other members because we have to be good stewards of the resources. We have a huge national debt.”
Top House Ag Democrat David Scott quickly rejected the call by Freedom Caucus deficit hawks to deny both storm and low crop price help to farmers. Scott complains it undercuts efforts by both Ag panels’ leaders to pass much-needed economic aid to deal with the ongoing downturn in large parts of the farm economy.