Policy Backgrounders

The Farm Bill

January 12, 2024

Trusted Insights for What’s Ahead™

The farm bill is an omnibus, multi-year piece of legislation that authorizes a wide range of agricultural and food programs (but does not appropriate money for those programs, which is done through annual appropriations bills). The farm bill is considered a must-pass for Congress as it ensures the U.S. Department of Agriculture can continue to implement existing programs, allows farmers to continue to receive important benefits, and authorizes nutrition assistance programs for low-income Americans. Since 1973 when a nutrition title was first introduced, farm bills have become increasingly expansive, with the omnibus nature of the bill attracting a wide variety of stakeholders into the debate on what should be included in this legislation. Generally, the farm bill is renewed every five years. This year, following Congress’s one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill through September, lawmakers will draft a new farm bill that is projected to be the largest to date.

• The Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimated that the 2018 farm bill would cost $867 billion over the ten-year period covering Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-2028. Using the May 2023 CBO-released baseline for major programs under the farm bill, as well as other farm bill programs not included in the annual projection, the current baseline for farm bill programs is estimated at $1,463 billion over the ten-year period covering FY 2024-2033.
• Millions more Americans were food insecure in 2022 compared to 2021. The one-year extension of the 2018 bill means that over 41 million people will continue to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (SNAP provides food benefits to low-income Americans) through September 30. But current government funding for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program (which provides federal grants for food and health care for low-income women who are pregnant, who have children up to five years old, and to those children) runs out January 19, as WIC is not included in the farm bill. The level of WIC funding has been a major point of contention between the Administration and House Republicans in the current budget debates.
• According to The Conference Board’s 2024 C-Suite Outlook, only 23 percent of US CEOs note that they are prepared to deal with food shortages. Moreover, “higher food prices due to conflict lead to higher inflation” ranks among US CEOs’ top seven concerns.
• In CRS’s 2023 projection, the nutrition title comprises 84 percent of the bill’s baseline. The cost of a new farm bill will be largely driven by increased spending for SNAP, partly because of the higher estimated cost of food under the Department of Agriculture’s Thrifty Food Plan, which resulted in higher SNAP benefits.
• Agriculture accounts for 10 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions. Regenerative agriculture— agricultural techniques that reverse the industry’s impact on climate change—is a hot topic in the farm bill debate. Farmers, as key drivers of climate solutions through innovative practices that support improvements to soil health, the expansion of on-farm renewable energy, and carbon sinks for crops, have a key role to play in addressing the climate issue.