Top staff from the House and Senate Ag committees continue their private talks this week on a possible new farm bill, while lawmakers prepare to approve a stopgap spending deal announced Sunday to keep the government funded until Dec. 20.
The main order of business for Congress this week is passing a continuing resolution to keep the government funded after the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1. After this week, lawmakers aren't due back in session until after the Nov. 5 elections.
The three-month CR announced by congressional leaders Sunday came after House GOP leaders failed to win approval last week for a continuing resolution that would have included provisions requiring prospective voters to prove their citizenship.
“While I am pleased bipartisan negotiations quickly led to a government funding agreement free of cuts and poison pills, this same agreement could have been done two weeks ago," Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement Sunday.
"Instead, Speaker [Mike] Johnson chose to follow the MAGA way and wasted precious time. As I have said throughout this process, there is only one way to get things done, with bipartisan, bicameral support."
The CR includes an extension of authority for USDA’s mandatory livestock reporting system and the Food for Peace program as well as domestic food assistance. As expected, there’s no extension of the 2018 farm bill included.
Fiscal 2024 ends Sept. 30, and authority for some farm bill programs begins expiring then as well as under the one-year extension passed last fall of the 2018 farm bill. Leaders of the House and Senate Ag committees aren't seeking another extension before the end of the year to allow for the possibility that they could reach agreement on a new farm bill that could be passed in December.
To that end, staff directors for the majority and minority on both committees have been meeting weekly since lawmakers returned from their summer recess earlier this month and will get together again this week, according to a source familiar with their plans.
“I think there's an energy and a movement, basically among the administration and, quite frankly, among the Senate Democrats” toward a new farm bill, House Agriculture Committee Chairman “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., told Agri-Pulse late last week. Thompson and Senate Ag Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., talked about the farm bill during a break in the annual Friends of the National Arboretum dinner Tuesday night in Washington.
A senior Republican on the Senate Ag Committee, John Hoeven of North Dakota, acknowledged that it's going to be difficult to cut deals on the bill until the outcome of the election is known but that negotiators need to make some progress now. He also acknowledged that funding for the bill's commodity title remains the biggest challenge. Resolve that issue and "the rest of the stuff's gonna come together," he said.
Lawmakers also are looking separately at crafting a supplemental package of direct assistance to farmers who have been hit by the downturn in commodity markets over the past year.
“It's going to be very difficult for them to get financing if we don't step in and help,” the top Republican on the Senate Ag, John Boozman of Arkansas, told Agri-Pulse.
“We’re trying to identify how much we need, how it would be distributed, and how would we pay for it,” he added.
“I do think that there's a lot of support for it. I think that members are understanding how difficult it is amongst the farm community now. There's a willingness to get it done. We just need to do the homework and not just do something, but do the right thing.”
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The package also could include some disaster aid, said Thompson.
“I very much believe that both the farm bill and, quite frankly, some type of disaster relief are absolutely critical for this nation's food security, because food security is national security,”
Also this week, the House will consider a bipartisan bill, the Fix Our Forests Act, that would simplify the environmental review process for forest management projects. On Monday, the House Rules Committee will prepare the bill for floor action. The bill is expected to be on the House floor Tuesday.
To address the challenge in preventing wildfires, the bill “gives forest managers the tools they need to conduct their work, and promotes scientifically backed land management methods that have been practiced by Native communities for centuries,” Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., said in a press release.
“Finally, we ensure that strong environmental protections are kept in place, while expediting the schedule of work and reducing the threat of frivolous litigation."
Here is a list of agriculture- or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EDT):
Monday, Sept. 23
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture annual meeting, through Wednesday, Indianapolis.
4 p.m. – House Rules Committee meeting to consider the Fix Our Forest Act and other bills, H-313 Capitol.
4 p.m. – USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report.
Tuesday, Sept. 24
Women in Agribusiness Summit, through Thursday, Denver.
Wednesday, Sept. 25
Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee meeting, through Thursday.
Food and Drug Administration public meeting on developing an enhanced systematic process for the post-market assessment of food chemicals.
9 a.m. – USDA releases monthly Food Price Outlook.
Thursday, Sept. 26
8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.
10 a.m. – Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, "Examining the Public Health Impacts of PFAS Exposures," 406 Dirksen.
Friday, Sept. 27
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