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The federal Farm Bill officially expired at midnight on Monday. The 2018 Farm Bill is home to $428 Billion in federal funding for crop insurance, nutrition, and conservation programs. The largest portion of the spending bill is allotted to Nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP.
"75% or 325 billion of the Farm Bill goes to food programs," explained Hayden Guetterman, a Bucyrus, Kansas farmer.
The Farm Bill funds a broad range of programs. The most important to farmers across the nation, crop insurance.
"Inflation is hurting the American farmer, inputs are at an all-time high, at the same time, crops prices are at six-year lows." Guetterman said. "Farming is a very high-risk business. Without the crop insurance program in that farm bill, farmers would have a hard time existing.”
Farmers are a small percentage of the American population, and millions of American Consumers benefit from its nutrition funding.
"We refer to it as the Farm Bill and it really is a farm and food bill," said Jennifer Ifft, Professor of Agriculture Policy at Kansas State University. "Crop insurance; we call that the foundation of the Federal Farm Safety Net. It’s widely used by most crop farms in the United States. Then there is Title 1 components of the Farm Bill that is seen today, that is Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC). That also provides risk coverage mostly for crop farms. Then there are Conservation programs that are run through the USDA.”
Its wide array of funding created a cry to Congressional lawmakers last year. The Farm Bill, renegotiated every five years, outlived its second extension on Monday. Ifft told KSHB 41, it's rare to see three extensions in a Farm Bill's lifespan.
"When the Farm Bill expires we go back to permanent law, that’s the 1949 Farm Bill. That’s a pretty good incentive for Congress to either pass or extend a new Farm Bill.”
Ifft says, Congress hasn't tested the viability of permanent law following expired legislation. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) manages funding for respective programs. The USDA has an approximate buffer period until the end of 2024 until programs run out of money.
"You’d be getting back to supply management where the government is storing cheese and crops and really getting involved in markets, nobody wants that," explained Ifft.
While crop insurance is a farmers primary concern in the Farm Bill, commodity reference prices and international trade agreements are major components for J.D. Hanna, a Silver Lake, Kansas farmer and President of the Kansas Corn Growers Association.
"As a farmer, I am all for free trade. There are so many countries out there that can use our products, such as products made from corn." He said. "We have ethanol, dried distillers grain, or even whole corn itself for a trade partner's own processing. Trade is essential to Kansas corn because a third of it is exported.”
According to the USDA Economic Research Service, farmers utilizing loan program benefits can receive loan deficiency payments, LDP, it offsets the prevailing world market price for crops grown through Farm Bill loan programs.
To put it into perspective, a bushel of wheat (60 pounds) yields 42 one-and-a-half pound loafs of bread. The average cost of bread in the United States according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in August 2024 was shy of $2.00 per pound. The reference price for a bushel of wheat on October 1, 2024 is $6.79.
"We want to get the best commodity price that we can get for our crops. A lot of people don’t understand what it takes to grow a crop from beginning to end." Guetterman said. "At the beginning you have input prices, for your seed, herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer. On top of that you have machinery cost, fuel, labor to get that crop planted and harvested. We also have property cost, land payments, land insurance, and for machinery as well.”
The expiration will not impact permanent funding for crop insurance and nutrition. Fifth generation farmer, Hayden Guetterman is calling on Congressional lawmakers to pass a new Farm Bill.
"When the House Agriculture Committee voted last time to pass the house Farm Bill, she voted no," stated Guetterman about Kansas' Third Congressional Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS). "Where are you Sharice, what's going on?"
Rep. Davids, a member of the House Agriculture Committee released a statement regarding the Farm Bill's expiration on Monday:
“Kansas farmers and ranchers are the backbone of our nation, but without reauthorizing the Farm Bill, we're leaving them and Kansas families in limbo. There’s too much at stake to play political games — we need a serious, bipartisan bill that strengthens crop insurance, supports agricultural research, and ensures our farmers and families can thrive. I remain committed to following the Kansas tradition of bipartisan agricultural policy and getting this across the finish line.”
Sen. Doc Marshall (R-KS) also released a statement on the Farm Bill's expiration:
“Another year has passed and we still have not seen any effort by Democrat leadership or this White House to prioritize a Farm Bill. My Republican colleagues and I have put in the work. Senate Republicans released a framework that puts FARM back in the Farm Bill after years of one-sided priorities from the Harris-Biden Administration. The Republican Framework would bolster crop insurance, increase commodities reference prices, and preserve record-high SNAP benefits for hungry families. While the Farm Bill technically expires today we still have until January 1 to pass its replacement or pass another extension. I am frustrated but determined to secure a good deal for farmers, ranchers, and rural America. I know farm country is hurting right now, but we have to get this bill right and we need our colleagues across the aisle to commit to putting FARM back in the Farm Bill before we can get that done. We will get there.”
"It’s never been just about party in agriculture policy. There are regional differences. One of the big differences is nutrition," said Ifft. "You have Republicans, especially in the House of Representatives, maybe someone not from a farm area, who wouldn’t vote for a farm bill without substantial cuts to nutrition. Typically, you need 60 votes to pass the Senate, and there are Democrats that won’t vote for a Farm Bill that cuts nutrition. It really does need to be bipartisan."
Ifft suspects the outcome of the Presidential election will determine when a new Farm Bill will be passed.
"If you’re a farmer you’re always going to be an optimist, right? You plant and hope and cultivate in faith and hopefully not end in debt," said Hanna. "It’s just disappointing, that our elected officials cannot put a package together. At the end of the day, we need a farm bill.”