The U.S. Farm Bill, which includes everything from crop insurance to nutrition assistance programs, has expired, but Congress has not been able to agree on a new five-year Farm Bill, raising concerns about what that could mean for its programs.
“We need to do it, because America today is facing a farm and a food crisis nationally," said U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Republican from Centre County and chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
He was speaking about the Farm Bill in an election interview. The political parties in Congress have failed to agree on what should go in a five-year Farm Bill. The old one expired last year. It got a one-year extension.
It had been expected to get another extension as part of a larger stopgap spending bill Congressional leaders unveiled Tuesday. But that deal appears to be dead after President-elect Donald Trump came out against it. It's unclear how a new agreement will be reached, and a partial government shutdown could begin after midnight Friday.
The Farm Bill is projected to have a $1.4 trillion dollar budget over 10 years. About three-quarters of that funding goes to nutrition programs. Support for crops like corn and wheat, conservation programs and crop insurance are also part of the bill.
In a statement about the temporary budget deal, Thompson said the bill “provides much needed relief for agriculture, including $10B in emergency economic aid.”
Conservation funding
But some farmers, environmental groups and scientists are concerned. They wanted the funding that addresses climate change and was part of the Inflation Reduction Act to be incorporated into the Farm Bill . That funding goes to projects like water infrastructure and cover crops. But the stopgap budget deal that had been proposed did not include that.
Hayley Painter is co-CEO of Painterland Sisters in Tioga County, an organic yogurt company she founded with her sister.
“We started the yogurt (business) because our farm was at risk of going out of business," she said. "Milk markets are pretty unstable throughout the years, and we experienced that on our own farm. We almost had to sell the cows a couple times.”
Painter, a fourth-generation farmer, said funding to support farmers and their conservation projects is key. She pointed to an example of how her family farm has been able to use that funding.
“We got waterways in our different pastures so that we're able to use land that's not utilized for anything," she said. "We can incorporate that into the agriculture system, have cattle graze, and when the cattle graze that helps sequester carbon into the soil and enhances biodiversity."
Tom Croner’s family has a grain and hay farm in Somerset County. He said they’ve worked with the county Conservation District and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including using cover crops to protect the soil from erosion.
He said having a little bit of extra revenue to offset costs helps encourage farmers — even ones who might not initially buy into those practices.
“It takes a little demonstration," he said. " And, you know, being able to live next to it and see the benefits when their farms are torn up with excessive rainfall and others aren't, why, eventually it catches on.”
Croner wants to see that conservation-focused funding continue.
“My grandchildren are now the ninth generation," he said. "So that's the thing that you know you want to as a parent and a grandparent, you want to leave things in a better condition than when you received them.”
Food and nutrition
Another concern is about support for food and nutrition programs and whether they’ll keep up with rising costs. Nutrition programs make up about three-quarters of Farm Bill spending. They include SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and TEFAP — The Emergency Food Assistance Program, which supports food banks.
“These programs are critical because they help bridge the food gap for millions of Americans who are facing hunger," said Julie Bancroft, CEO of Feeding Pennsylvania, which has food banks that serve all of Pennsylvania’s counties.
She said Pennsylvania has seen a 25% increase in food insecurity since 2022. “We’re already seeing the impact of rising food costs now.”
Bill Lyons, a Republican Perry County commissioner, is also a dairy farmer. He was one of the elected leaders who spoke with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small, Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding at Penn State's Ag Progress Days in August.
Lyons said programs like dairy margin coverage to assist farmers with fluctuating costs, along with other parts of the Farm Bill are important.
“I appreciate all the benefits that we can get from the Farm Bill as far as conservation practices to make what we have now stay good and not erode away, because, I guess it's not a pun, but you don't want to see the ground disappear," he said. "And the SNAP program is pretty important for feeding children that do not have the opportunity, maybe like they should.”
All of that will likely be on the table again next year in Congress. For his part, Thompson says he hopes to move quickly with the next Congress on a five-year Farm Bill.
