INDIANAPOLIS — As the lame-duck session of the 118th Congress approaches, some lawmakers are urging one piece of legislation to be a “must-pass” before this current session ends next January.
Many of Indiana’s Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on House leadership to move forward with an updated farm bill passed by the House Committee on Agriculture in May.
According to a letter, sent on Sept. 26 to House leadership, including U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, the speaker of the house, along with the majority and minority leaders, more than 100 lawmakers called for the authorization of the bipartisan Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024, a reauthorization of the five-year farm bill.
The Indiana members of the U.S. House of Representatives who signed this letter included:
- U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind. District 2
- U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind. District 3
- U.S. Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind. District 4
- U.S. Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind. District 6
- U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, R-Ind. District 8
- U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind. District 9
This comes after the 2018 farm bill, the omnibus agriculture-related legislation passed by President Donald J. Trump in December 2018, was extended in November 2023. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the extension allowed authorized programs to continue through the end of September 2024, even though the farm bill normally lasts only five years.
The Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024, the legislation that would serve as the newest farm bill, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 21, according to the U.S. Congress website.
The official title of the legislation when it was introduced in May was:
“To provide for the reform and continuation of agriculture and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2029, and for other purposes.”
After a mark-up session on May 23, the House Committee on Agriculture took action on an amended version of the bill on May 24, passing the committee with a vote of 33-21. No action on the bill has been taken since then.
Farm bill legislation has been enacted in some way, shape or form every five years since the early 1930s, which initially focused mainly on commodity program support. In the 1970s, the bill’s reach expanded to include nutrition, conservation, research and rural development.
In October 2023, some of Indiana’s priorities that lawmakers and members of the state’s agriculture community stated should be included in the legislation include:
- Farm safety net
- Includes supporting a “robust crop insurance program”
- Conservation
- Nutrition
- Ensuring that more than 290,000 Hoosier families receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP
- Foreign animal disease prevention
- Market access program and foreign market development
According to a news release from Houchin’s office that included the letter, farmers are currently operating under policies that were put in place in 2018 after the bill’s extension. These lawmakers believe these policies are outdated and ultimately “restrict the growth of (the United States’) agricultural community.”
“Farmers and ranchers do not have the luxury of waiting until next Congress for the enactment of an effective farm bill,” the letter read. “Inflation has driven production costs to the highest on record, meanwhile commodity prices across the board have fallen precipitously, creating a severe margin squeeze on farm and ranch families.”
The letter reads that the 118th Congress “has an opportunity to do right by producers, other agriculture stakeholders, rural communities and taxpayers by putting more ‘farm’ back in the farm bill.” Officials said this can be done by conducting “responsible reforms” as well as investing in all 12 titles of the legislation.
The bipartisan Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024 was the result of feedback received at several House Committee on Agriculture-hosted listening sessions, as well as numerous roundtables and town halls across the country.
The lawmakers who signed the letter blamed the current Biden-Harris administration, as well as Democratic congressional leadership, stating that they have “stood in the way of progress on a highly effective farm bill.”
“The negative impacts of failing to act will not just stop at the farm gate,” the letter read,” but will also hit Main Street businesses, rural communities and the national economy… We remain hopeful that after election year politics have run their course, (lawmakers) will join in a bipartisan fashion to do what’s right for the country. All Americans particularly our rural constituents, deserve nothing less and we stand ready to assist in this endeavor as the end of the year approaches.”
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to be back in session starting Nov. 12. Read the full farm bill-related letter below:
