Farm Bill & Ag-Appropriations Updates: Mini-Blog Part I

In the past month, little movement has occurred on the Farm Bill. In the Senate, Senators Debbie Stabenow (chair) and John Boozman (ranking member) have publicly expressed that they are still negotiating key aspects of the Farm Bill and don’t expect to release a draft until after the 2024 Presidential Election in November. The House Ag Committee Chairman, Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson has discussed moving forward on the Farm Bill in April, but the process may be stalled if they are unable to get time for floor debate in the House. While stakeholder groups are broadly calling on Congress to pass a Farm Bill as soon as possible, it is growing increasingly likely that the legislation will get pushed to 2025.

Congress has officially wrapped up the FY24 spending bills. The Ag-FDA appropriations bill contained 2-3% cuts for most of Land Core’s funding priorities, including conservation technical assistance ($777 million, -3%), the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative ($445 million, -2.2%), and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program ($45 million, -4%). The spending levels reflected a deal made by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and President Biden to cap FY24 spending at FY23 levels.

After the FY24 spending bills were passed, Congress jumped straight into the FY25 appropriations process. President Biden released the FY25 President’s Budget Request earlier this month. Then, last week, the House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about FY25 funding priorities from the administration. The USDA's FY25 budget proposal reinstates the cover crop payment program, initially introduced during the pandemic, with an estimated cost of $825 million over a decade. Additionally, the budget allocates $6.01 billion for research, conservation, and climate-related initiatives, a notable increase from previous years but scaled back from previous requests. Within this, $985 million is designated for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a 7% increase aimed at supporting agricultural and environmental conservation efforts amidst climate challenges.

In part two of our Farm Bill and Ag-Appropriations blog, we will dive into our FY25 program and legislation requests and the importance of these for soil health and resilient agricultural systems. Stay tuned for more!