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House Agriculture Committee’s 2024 Farm Bill

What Is The 2024 Farm Bill?

On May 23rd, 2024, Representative GT Thompson of Pennsylvania sponsored the most recent Farm Bill that was introduced to the House Committee on Agriculture. Formally known as the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, the Farm Bill was passed to provide agricultural reforms and continued funding for agricultural programs until 2029.

 

House Committee on Agriculture Chairman GT Thompson of Pennsylvania speaking on the likelihood of the Farm Bill Passing

 

Typically, farm bills are introduced every five years and are worked on to upkeep programs and funding at the USDA. However, in 2023, a full farm bill could not be passed. President Biden passed the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024], which extends the end date of 2018’s farm bill to another year until September 30th, 2024. 

The markup of the 2024 Farm Bill ended on May 24th, 2024. It included over 50 proposed amendments. Some talking points of the Farm Bill that cleared the House Committee on Ag’s voting 33-21 were commodity price and policies, environmentalism and conservation programs, trade policies, nutrition, loans and funding, and forestry, among many other topics.

Many farmers and policymakers note the main issues within the Farm Bill, which include crop insurance programs meant to support farmers, conservation in the sense of sustainable farming practices, nutrition assistance through programs like SNAP, rural development and infrastructure, and agricultural research to handle better climate change and the growing challenges of the modern age. 

Conservation

Some proponents of the Farm Bill emphasise its importance in conservation efforts, citing the previous 140 million acres of farmland in conservation programs due to the last bill farm. Multiple Farm Bill programs affect conservation efforts by providing $6 Billion yearly towards climate-conscious agricultural practices such as soil health programs, clean water efforts, carbon sequestration, and wildlife conservation.  

One of the programs brought up in the most recent Farm Bill, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program or the EQIP, is designed to provide financial and technical assistance to agricultural workers to try and learn to implement more climate-conscious farming practices on their lands. 

 

A look at the usages of the EQIP program over the course of a decade

Not only the EQIP but also a Regional Conservation Partnership Program designed for collaboration and connection between various stakeholders in the food system, the Conservation Reserve Program that handles more sensitive types of land, and the Conservation Stewardship program that acts as a reward system for active conservation in their farm systems. These programs and more within the 2024 Farm Bill are written to try and emphasise the importance of collaboration with farmers to modernise our food system and combat the ever-evolving challenges of climate change.

Infrastructure

One of the most significant challenges in modernising agriculture is infrastructure. Many of today’s solutions to agricultural problems and climate-conscious farming require that information be transferred quickly to farmers all across America. A significant hurdle that the Farm Bill is tackling is an attempt to bring broadband connections to farmers and bridge the technological divide between farmers and the modern world. 

 

A graph from Illinois’ Farm Policy News on broadband access in important
agricultural states

 

Doing so will allow businesses, farmers, and governmental organisations to communicate better and facilitate the farmer’s growth. Another major infrastructural hurdle being tackled is the workforce issue. The number of farmers in the newest generations is in decline, and many farms cannot find proper help or employment. The Farm Bill aims to find ways to improve workforce issues, provide childcare, protect access to rural healthcare and more. 

Nutrition

With one of the leading causes of death in the United States being heart disease, nutrition is an issue that comes to the forefront as a topic that needs to be discussed. Nutrition and heart health go hand in hand. Much of what determines a person’s risk of heart disease is based on their diet, and as a result, American policymakers must tackle nutrition in the Farm Bill. Millions of Americans are unable to afford or have access to nutrient-rich food. This is an issue that disproportionately affects people in lower-income areas or people of colour in America. 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, is the nation’s most extensive federal program that assists with food and nutrition. It serves over 41 Million Americans at the moment and continues to be stretched as inflation causes prices of food and groceries to skyrocket.  

 

SNAP monthly participation and annual program spending 2000-2022 from the USDA ERS

 

The 2024 Farm Bill contains multiple points for increasing financial aid to programs meant to provide healthy nutrition to American families and growing access to communities that formerly could not access food assistance programs fully. It tries to create opportunities for people to have upward mobility in life while not being stripped of their access to SNAP and related programs to allow people the chance to develop further. 

Crop Insurance 

Another significant aspect of the bill is the crop insurance policies proposed by this bill. Be it weather, flooding, economic or any other kind of issue, farmers are prone to having their entire livelihoods upended by a single event that may prevent them from recovering and continuing to provide food for the American populace and the world. 

The government’s solution is to provide crop insurance programs that are typically unaffordable for some farmers. The increased efforts on crop insurance aim to protect both new and upcoming farmers as well as well-known and experienced farmers and provide greater security for our food system overall. 

Future of the Farm Bill

There is no guarantee that this Farm Bill will be passed in time or even made onto the house floor to be fully introduced, as many logistical issues are coming about, causing delays. Overall, most Democrats hold opposition against this Farm Bill. There are some criticisms, such as from House  Committee on Agriculture Ranking Member David Scott saying that this bill has had “little to no progress” and that their “willingness to delay the bill to play election-year politics is selfish”. 

Ranking Member David Scott speaking at a Committee Hearing on Consequences of the EPA, July 10th, 2024

Republicans attempted to dismantle their wall by including some provisions that have great importance to some of the Democratic Party members.  Yet cattle and dairy stakeholders, corn and soy associations, and various other organisations within the jurisdiction of the 2024 Farm Bill praise it for its efforts towards making a better agricultural system and providing food and nutrition to Americans, saying that “Chairman Thompson has gone to great lengths to meet with America’s cattle producers in every region of the country and craft a Farm Bill that supports their unique needs.”

Even with the support of so many agricultural organisations, is it likely that the farm bill will pass? It faces a number of challenges to overcome. It has practically no traction from Democrats in the House, and a few Republicans also hold concerns over the pricing and costs of this most recent farm bill. Whether or not the bill makes it past the floor remains to be seen. 

Further Reading

 

  1. The Text of The 2024 Farm Bill
  2. USDA’s Farm Bill Information
  3. Nature Conservancy Farm Bill Opinions
  4. NASDA 10 Main Topics for 2024 Farm Bill
  5. 2018 vs 2024 Farm Bill Climate Initiatives
  6. NTCA Broadband Article
  7. Nutrition and SNAP
  8. Crop Insurance Policies and Information
  9. Debate on the Markup of the 2024 Farm Bill
  10. Praise and Opinions on the Farm Bill