Panel: Congress Needs to 'Buckle Down'
Published: Friday, December 29, 2023
"Maybe a five-year extension counts as a farm bill," said Jonathan Coppess, leader of University of Illinois Gardner Agriculture Policy Program.
Experts are skeptical about Congress' ability to pass a new farm bill in 2024. Coppess, Andrew Larson of Illinois Soybean Assn. and Brad Stotler of Illinois Corn Growers Assn. all say that U.S. leaders will have to buckle down now to get a new farm bill policy passed, and they just don't see that happening without some drastic collaboration.
"How do we get to a farm bill in 2024? I think that Congress will have to clear the decking," Stotler said.
Bipartisanship will be key to passing a farm bill due to these challenges, Stotler said.
"There are a lot of headwinds facing the farm bill coming up We're talking about farm bill specifically—what are we going to fund, what are the policies that we're going to push forward and how are we going to fund those—and the other side of that the pay force; is there going to be the bipartisan support to get it over the finish line? Stotler said. "And how is that going to work?"
Another key challenge Stotler is keeping an eye on how the House Republicans handle the actions of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
"This one-year bill that we're currently working under, if you remember, was attached to a continued resolution that was passed by Speaker Johnson and he needed to use Democrats to get it over the finish line, and he didn't cut any funding. So, I don't know if that sounds familiar to anyone, but that's exactly how Speaker McCarthy lost his job a couple months before that. So, how long will the honeymoon last for Speaker Johnson?" he said.
Stotler said the one-year extension is a silver lining to the storm of the 2023 Farm Bill. Other challenges are the strained relationships among Republicans members of Congress, a narrowing margin for majority and the upcoming election, among other things.
"Keep pushing, we can't let this fall off the radar screen," he said. "There are a lot of things going on in our country right now."
"I'm not the optimist at the table, and I think the reality is extraordinarily difficult," Coppess said. "To get a farm bill done in 2024, committees will have to move right away."
He said if one does get done, it will be a "lame duck." However, Congress must get past arguments about smaller details and focus on getting the heavy lifting done.
"I don't think we have a serious negotiation going on right now," he said. "I think the committees can put this together and do it quickly we know how to get a farm bill done. It's a coalitional effort. You've got to stop picking fights that you're not going to win for reasons that don't matter, and for some reason we can't find our way out of that."
Ag committees need to focus on the issue of reference prices and find a compromise in order to move forward on the farm bill, he said. Continuing discussion of cutting funding from conservation or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for other titles is only going to diminish the chance that a new policy is passed.
"The big things we've got to see are: some really, really early movement in 2024, we've got to see some pressure among these committees to get real about negotiations and put aside some of these unreasonable, infeasible demands," he said.
Larson said the farm bill will be passed in 2024, but it may not be until the end of the year.
"I have some optimistic belief that Congress will pass it," he said. "The undeniable fact is that there is an interest in passing the farm bill policy and it's important that we maintain that coalition to keep doing that (because) that has passed the farm bill in years past."
He said it is important to keep the Nutrition Title in the farm bill to encourage bipartisanship and understanding about the needs of farmers. His biggest concern is the growth in apathy he has seen throughout the process of crafting the new farm bill. Some have even questioned how the farm bill would affect the average person if it weren't renewed.
"I'd rather not find out," he said, concerning what might happen without a farm bill.
Larson also pointed out that although there is no new funding for the farm bill, there is $20 million from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that was poured into the bill for conservation policies. He wonders if Congress will determine that those funds are solely for the Conservation Title or if they can be reallocated to conservation policies throughout the farm bill.
The top three policy priorities which Larson, Stotler and Coppess mentioned include: crop insurance, Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program, and strengthening the safety net in the Title 1 programs for Midwest growers.
"What I look for is optimism—which may not be at its highest point—I look for quick movement and a real sort of serious negotiation about what needs to be dealt with, how we do it, and start to see some solid, concrete proposals on the table rather than just out-of-reality expectations," Coppess said. "This is an opportunity to think creatively and long-term, but we need to think realistically."
"We all need to be active in the agriculture community and can't have apathy," Stotler said. "This is the time to do more, not less."
"Keep hopeful and keep pushing. That's the big piece of this. I know the whole debate around the IRA money and where that lands in the conservation funding will be a messy process," Larson said. "Keep pushing to get this farm bill done. It's not going to be a transformative farm bill, but that doesn't mean that we don't need it."
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