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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Friday, April 04, 2025
The 2014 farm bill is set to expire in just over one week, raising concerns about disruptions in a number of programs, including one of the largest conservation programs as well as much smaller programs that help commodity groups open overseas markets.
Farm bill negotiators are in danger of missing their deadline for agreeing on a new measure before the 2014 farm law expires Sept. 30 after failing to reach a deal last week.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pressed farm bill negotiators to finalize an agreement as quickly as possible, but House Republicans used the conference committee’s first formal meeting to continue to press senators to accept tighter work requirements for food stamp recipients.
The No. 2-ranking Senate Republican is urging the Senate’s farm bill negotiators to consider tightening food stamp work requirements in line with provisions in the House-passed version.
The Senate looks to finally name its team of farm bill negotiators this week while also finishing work on a $154 billion spending bill for a bevy of departments and agencies important to agriculture, including USDA and FDA.
A USDA savings account for rural electric and telephone cooperatives that allows them to earn substantially more interest than they could from private bankers has become a major source of potential funding for a new farm bill.
The Senate plans to name its farm bill negotiators this week, clearing the way for the talks to begin before House members scatter for the August recess.
The fate of the farm bill this year could hinge on whether House and Senate negotiators can find a compromise on tightening work requirements for food stamp recipients in ways that could appeal to at least some Senate Democrats.
The House takes a key step this week toward beginning negotiations with the Senate on a final farm bill, but the talks may not formally begin until August.
