After a modest degree of speculation that the House of Representatives, under newly-installed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), might move a farm bill yet this year, reality has set in and plans to advance the measure have now been kicked into 2024. The acknowledgment that there is no time to pass a major measure like the farm bill – while also dealing with a looming government shutdown just seven days from now – was affirmed this week by the principals of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, who are discussing the scope and duration of an extension of current farm policy.
The ag panel lawmakers are focused on passing a 10-month extension of the 2018 bill, until October 2024. As expected, congressional leaders are targeting the upcoming stop-gap government funding measure that presumably will be voted on in both chambers next week as the legislative vehicle to pass the extension. Parts of the current farm bill expired Sept. 30, with a larger number of farm safety net programs set to expire as of Jan. 1, 2024.
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