Farm Bill Advances

This week, the House Agriculture Committee began the markup process of the 2024 Farm Bill. The markup process is the final step before a bill is presented to the House or Senate for debate.

Rep. Tracey Mann, R - Kansas: “The Farm Food and Security Act does that. It strengthens the farm safety net and protects crop insurance. It adjusts reference prices and it modernizes the livestock indemnity program. Dairy supports in the Conservation Reserve program. I've long said that America is the freest country in the world, in part because we've never had to rely on another country for our food supply.”

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D - Virginia: “This bill puts new limits on enrollment into these programs, despite the fact that in the Commonwealth of Virginia, 51% of the applications submitted by Virginians for Conservation and technical assistance programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act were rejected due to insufficient federal funds, and only 39% of Virginia's applications to equip in KSP were successful in 2023. We know that these vital conservation programs are already oversubscribed and underfunded.”

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R - Texas: “The number one issue I hear from our producers in my district when I'm at home is the need to increase reference prices in 2 to 1. This bill does that. The current reference prices were set in 2014 using production agriculture data that was finalized in 2012. U.S. farm income is projected to drop 23% this year due to falling commodity prices worldwide. Yet the cost of production are expected to finish at the third highest level in history due to the Biden administration's failed economic policies and record inflation. The agriculture sector is vastly different, is a vastly different industry today than it was in 2012.”

The current language of the House Farm Bill limits the growth of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, to a cost-of-living adjustment in each of the next five years. The Secretary of Agriculture would no longer be able to adjust SNAP eligibility or benefit schedule in response to economic conditions.

Rep. Andrea Salinas, D - Oregon: “Frankly, I was shocked to learn that Chairman Thompson's proposal would effectively cut SNAP by $30 billion. Using SNAP as a pay for was never on the table for me or any of my Democratic colleagues, and the majority has known this since the start of this process. Yet they still chose to push forward. You cannot simultaneously claim that the $80 billion cut is just a budget gimmick and simultaneously use it as a pay for. This proposal takes away up to two days of food per month from hungry veterans, children and seniors.”

Rep. John Rose, R - Tennessee: “Now, I would also like to take a moment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, to dispel any rumor that this legislation cuts benefits to those in need saving and cutting are not the same By reining in executive overreach and preventing future circumvention. The 27 billion in nutrition savings is reinvest it into the farm bill. These savings originate from establishing guardrails on the Thrifty Food Plan and ensuring any future administration cannot abuse their authority by increasing or decreasing benefits unless cost neutral.”

The proceeding was briefly interrupted by a protest of the poultry industry.

For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs.