Preparing for the Next Farm Bill

The farm bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. Although freestanding legislation or components of other major laws sometimes create or change agricultural policies, the periodic farm bill provides a predictable opportunity for policymakers to address agricultural and food issues in a comprehensive manner. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill; P.L. 115-334)—the most recent farm bill—generally expires at the end of FY2023. The 2018 farm bill succeeded the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 farm bill; P.L. 113-79). There is no fixed format for the farm bill. Its breadth has grown from the original two titles of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 (P.L. 73-10) to the 12 titles of the 2018 farm bill. The issues addressed in the 2018 farm bill encompass agricultural commodity supports, credit, trade, conservation, research, rural development, foreign and domestic food programs, and many other policies and programs. Provisions in the 2018 farm bill modified certain commodity programs, expanded crop insurance, amended conservation programs, reauthorized and revised nutrition assistance, and extended authority to appropriate funds for many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) discretionary programs through FY2023. When the 2018 farm bill was enacted, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the total cost of its mandatory programs would be $428 billion over its five-year duration (FY2019-FY2023). Four titles accounted for 99% of the 2018 farm bill’s mandatory spending: Nutrition (Title IV), Commodities (Title I), Crop Insurance (Title XI), and Conservation (Title II). At enactment, the Nutrition title, which includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), comprised 76% of the estimated total, with the remaining portion mostly addressing agricultural production and conservation issues across other titles. Historically, omnibus farm bill legislation has focused on commodity-based revenue support policy—namely, the methods and levels of federal support provided to agricultural producers. The 2018 farm bill reauthorized and amended various components of U.S. farm safety net programs, which include commodity support programs, the federal crop insurance program, and permanent disaster assistance programs. Certain agricultural interest groups point to additional policy priorities—covering a range of equity issues across the farm sector—and call for enhanced support for small- and medium-sized farms, specialty crops, organic agriculture, local and regional food systems, healthy and nutritious foods, research, conservation, and rural development, among other priorities. Debate over the next farm bill may include a wide range of other policy priorities and issues in addition to commodity-based revenue support. These include topics raised in prior farm bill debates and more recent issues. Among long-standing issues are the overall budget outlook and the scope and structure of nutrition programs within the farm bill. Among recent issues is the federal government’s role in supporting beginning, veteran, and historically underserved farmers and ranchers. New to the next farm bill debate might be a variety of agriculture sector impacts associated with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. These include agricultural supply chain challenges, price inflation, international trade, industry consolidation, and whether, and to what extent, to continue temporary policies enacted in pandemic response laws. The Biden Administration has prioritized climate change as an overarching federal policy priority. Debate over the next farm bill may include policies related to agriculture and climate change—how federal programs and policies can or should support agriculture’s adaptation to changing climatic conditions, as well as agriculture’s potential contributions to climate change mitigation.