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What Is the Farm Bill? (CRS Report for Congress)

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Release Date Revised April 9, 2024
Report Number RS22131
Report Type Report
Authors Renée Johnson, Specialists in Agricultural Policy; Jim Monke, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
Source Agency Congressional Research Service
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Summary:

The farm bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. Titles in the most recent farm bill encompassed farm commodity revenue supports, agricultural conservation, trade and foreign food assistance, farm credit, research, rural development, forestry, bioenergy, horticulture, and domestic nutrition assistance. Typically renewed about every five or six years, the farm bill provides a predictable opportunity for policymakers to comprehensively and periodically address agricultural and food issues. The most recent farm bill—the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, P.L. 115-334—was enacted into law in December 2018 and expires in 2023. It succeeded the Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79). Provisions in the 2018 farm bill modified the structure of farm commodity support, expanded crop insurance coverage, amended conservation programs, reauthorized and revised nutrition assistance, and extended authority to appropriate funds for many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) discretionary programs through FY2023. At enactment in December 2018, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the total cost of the mandatory programs in the farm bill would be $428 billion over its five-year duration, FY2019-FY2023, about $1.8 billion more than if the 2014 farm bill were extended. On a 10-year basis, the expected cost was $867 billion over FY2019-FY2028, which was budget neutral compared to extending the 2014 farm bill. Four titles account for 99% of anticipated farm bill mandatory outlays: Nutrition, Crop Insurance, Farm Commodity Support, and Conservation. The Nutrition title comprises 76% of mandatory outlays, mostly for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The remaining 24% of outlays covers mostly risk management and commodity support (16%) and conservation (7%). Programs in all other farm bill titles account for about 1% of mandatory outlays. Many programs are authorized to receive discretionary (appropriated) funds. The distribution of spending across titles in the farm bill over time is not a zero-sum game. Legislative changes enacted in each farm bill account for only a fraction of the observed change between farm bills. Every year, CBO re-estimates the baseline to determine expected costs. Baseline projections can rise and fall over time based on changes in economic conditions, even without any action by Congress. For example, SNAP outlays, which comprise most of the Nutrition title, increased markedly through the recession that ended in 2009. Crop insurance outlays have increased steadily from policy changes, while the farm commodity programs have risen and fallen counter-cyclically with market prices. Conservation program outlays increased steadily since the 1990s but have leveled off in recent years.