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While the election is now behind us, the future of the long-awaited Farm Bill remains in question. Farmers and ranchers have been waiting for the reauthorization of the bill for more than a year, since the last bill expired in September 2023.
While there is a ready, bipartisan-supported version released by Congressman Glenn GT Thompson (R-PA-15), who also serves as House Agriculture Committee Chair, it remains unknown if it will pass before the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2025.
Ethan Lane, Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), acknowledged the strength of the bill.
“GT Thompson has done a phenomenal job. He has crafted a really popular farm bill that was voted out of the House Ag Committee on a bipartisan basis,” said Lane, who noted that this bill is well-supported within farming and ranching communities, adding, “There’s a good bill out there. It’s ready to move… We just need to move the bill.”
However, the timing of the bill’s passage remains a significant factor. Lane explained, “Whether that happens in lame duck, because we have a newly open to compromise Democratic conference up on Capitol Hill… or whether that’s something that’s taken up quickly in the new Congress,” the Farm Bill has support and could potentially move forward in either scenario.
Lane also emphasized that this version of the bill addresses key issues facing producers, with Thompson doing “more legwork than any chairman we’ve ever seen in talking to producers and figuring out how to thread that needle.”
Whether the current political landscape either helps or hinders the Farm Bill’s progression remains to be seen. With the Senate expected to shift under new Republican voices, and the House potentially remaining under Republican control, the bill stands a good chance of moving forward quickly in the new Congress. However, there is also the risk that competing legislative priorities in the new administration could delay it.
As the farming community awaits action, Lane emphasized the urgency of the situation, reiterating that “the bill is there. It’s just time to move it.” Whether Congress can accomplish this in the lame-duck period or early next year remains to be seen, but for many in agriculture, timely action on the Farm Bill is a pressing priority.