America’s farmers are heading into harvest season with another uncertainty hanging over their operations: the future of the farm bill may depend on what happens at the ballot box in November.
Congress has left Washington for a month-long campaign recess without completing a new five-year farm bill, while the latest extension of the current law has expired. That leaves producers facing continued uncertainty over a wide range of agricultural and nutrition programs—and lawmakers with a shrinking window to reach a deal.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., is warning that the political calendar itself could ultimately derail the effort.
“What’s going to happen is, we’re in danger of losing the farm bill, not getting it passed,” Boozman said. “And then also, the states losing a year. Because I don’t know what’s going to happen in the election, these things are hard to get done.”
SNAP Dispute Adds Another Roadblock
One of the major sticking points is a dispute over SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Boozman has offered Democrats a one-year delay for states to lower SNAP overpayment rates and avoid funding penalties. Democrats are seeking a two-year delay.
The disagreement illustrates just how difficult it could be for lawmakers to resolve the remaining farm-bill issues before the election—and why the composition of Congress after November could have a major impact on what happens next.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said the outcome of the election could determine whether Congress can finish the five-year legislation or whether lawmakers effectively have to start over.
“If it’s just the House that they carry, I think we still got a chance of getting the five-year farm bill,” Grassley said. “If they carry both houses, I think they would want to write a different farm bill next year.”
For farmers, that could mean the difference between Congress finishing the current farm-bill process and beginning another lengthy legislative fight.
Thune Still Sees a Path Forward
Despite the uncertainty, Senate Majority Leader and Agriculture Committee member John Thune, R-S.D., said he expects lawmakers ultimately to find a way to complete the remaining work.
That could mean attaching the farm bill to a larger piece of legislation after the election rather than trying to move the entire package through Congress on its own.
“My expectation is that one way or the other, we are going to get the rest of this farm bill done,” Thune said. “And after this election is over with, we’ll figure out a way or a pathway, an avenue—perhaps it rides on something else.”
Thune said completing the legislation is important because farmers and ranchers need “certainty and predictability.”
That certainty, however, remains out of reach for now.
With lawmakers away from Washington and the November election approaching, the farm bill has moved beyond a debate over individual agricultural and nutrition provisions. Its future is increasingly tied to the political makeup of the next Congress—and whether lawmakers can find enough common ground to finish the job.
For farmers already making production, marketing and financial decisions for the year ahead, the message is increasingly clear: the next major movement on the farm bill may not come until after voters decide who controls Congress.
