Materials provided to House and Senate members of the conference committee on H.R. 2 the Farm Bill for their first meeting on September 5, 2018.
The Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), Congressman Mike Conaway (R-TX), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN) are the principle negotiators on merging the two versions of the 5-year Farm Bill. Known as the “Big 4” they (and their staff) have been meeting since at least August 1 to hammer out legislative details of U.S. federal policies impacting farmers, conservation, rural development, nutrition, risk management, research and animal disease programs. Each of the Big 4 understand the gravity of the situation facing the farm economy and the need for the federal government to provide some certainty to farmers, their lenders and rural communities that may come through passage of the Farm Bill, namely;
- farmers are receiving the majority of financial blows from trading partner’s retaliation to the Trump Administration’s trade policies of erecting tariffs on foreign imported goods, and
- due to several years of low commodity prices coupled with outstanding debt, the farm economy has witnessed a decline in farm income of 52%, a total $60 billion since 2013.
But, even amidst the severity of the situation it remains uncertain if the Big 4 can overcome major fundamental challenges that exist in the two versions of the legislation. Consider the funding issues. The House version of the Farm Bill makes cuts in certain programs, of which those funds are re-directed into other policy priorities. For instances, nearly $800 million (over 10 years) is saved in the Conservation Title, mainly by eliminating the Conservation Security Program. Over $1.4 billion is saved in the Nutrition Title, mainly from changes to state performance indicators and workforce requirements. Just over $500 million is saved by eliminating the Biorefinery Assistance Program and the Rural Energy for America Program. These savings were used to bolster other programs like: Title I Commodity Price Loss Coverage Program, Conservation Title II, Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, Title VII Organic Agriculture Research & Extension Initiative and Title XI National Animal Disease Preparedness & Response. The Senate version of the Farm Bill has other ideas for commodity programs and maintains the Conservation Security Program and Bioenergy Programs.
In their last meeting in mid-September the Big 4 attempted to reach agreement on funding levels for each of the 12 titles in the Farm Bill. But an agreement could not be reached. This disagreement showcases just how far apart negotiators are on fundamental policy decisions for the Farm Bill. While some progress has been made, to date, no titles have been closed – meaning all titles of the Farm Bill remain open for debate.
History is not on their side
Power and Politics
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