2013 Ends Without a New Farm Bill

by Patrick B. Feilke

As 2013 comes to an end, we are still without a new farm bill.  Both the U.S. Senate and House passed versions of the new farm bill in 2013.  The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its version of the 2013 farm bill (S. 954, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Acts of 2013) on May 14, 2013.  The next day, the House Agriculture Committee approved its version of the farm bill (H.R. 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013).  The House and Senate conference committee continue to negotiate the final version of the farm bill and recent reports suggest that a bill will be ready in January.  The 2008 farm bill officially expired on Sept. 30, 2013; however, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Dec. 12 to extend the 2008 farm bill through January, after the committee failed to agree on a new bill.

Within the bills passed by the U.S. Senate and House are provisions that would reshape the structure of farm commodity support, expand crop insurance coverage, consolidate conservation programs, and reauthorize and revise nutrition assistance.  The new farm bill will likely involve some major changes in the safety net programs available for farm operations, and will likely eliminate direct payments to farmers, which have existed since the late 1990s, and revise counter-cyclical price and revenue support programs.  The next farm bill will likely lower the maximum acreage in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) from the current level of 32 million acres down to a maximum of 24 million acres in CRP during the next five years in order to increase crop production acreage in the U.S. 

While some parts of the farm bill are still unknown, crop insurance will most likely be a prominent part of the new legislation.  With direct payments being eliminated, the crop insurance program is set to become agriculture’s primary safety net.  The federal crop insurance program makes available subsidized crop insurance to producers who purchase a policy to protect against individual farm losses in yield, crop revenue, or whole farm revenue.  A report released this summer suggests offering lower insurance premiums to farmers who use practices like no-till farming, cover cropping, and efficient irrigation to reduce drought risk.  Under the Senate farm bill, conservation compliance would be required for crop insurance participation in the future.  In order to receive crop insurance premium subsidies, under the Senate bill, producers must be in compliance with wetland conservation requirements and conservation requirements for highly erodible land.