Even if the bill were passed right now, farmers wouldn’t get their payments until fall 2026—that’s too slow
Philip Gruber ’24, Print Content Manager at Lancaster Farming; Lancaster Farming; “Can Farm Bill Aid Come Fast Enough for Struggling Farmers?”; 7/24/24; https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/field-crops/can-farm-bill-aid-come-fast-enough-for-struggling-farmers/article_281fe254-49b5-11ef-b97e-ab1df1745b32.html; //AR!
Rep. Glenn Thompson wants to pass the new Farm Bill quickly to offset falling farm income, but that may not be rapid enough for cash-strapped farmers.
“We stand ready to provide them what they need,” Thompson, the House Agriculture Committee chairman from Pennsylvania, said in a July 23 hearing.
Farmers are facing an expected 27% decline in commodity prices this year.
The rapid price decline — 41% since 2022 — would bring commodities back to the 20-year average just two years after they set record highs, according to USDA.
With shrinking farm liquidity and rising input costs, the volume of new operating loans is up 20% from a year ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Farm operating debt remains below historic averages after adjusting for inflation, but Thompson is concerned by projections that total farm-sector debt will be at its highest since 1970 by year’s end.
The Republican-led Farm Bill, containing increased commodity reference prices for farm safety-net programs, could ease farmers’ financial pain.
It passed the Agriculture Committee in May and would be the first Farm Bill since 2002 to significantly boost the farm safety net, Thompson said.
David Dunlow, the chairman of the American Cotton Producers, said Thompson’s Farm Bill will provide many of the program improvements his organization is seeking.
Under current Farm Bill rules, this year’s price drops of 12% to 15% often have not been enough to trigger payments, he said.
Still, Dunlow said farmers need ad hoc assistance before the new Farm Bill will be able to deliver it.
Even if the Farm Bill were passed immediately, price discovery would happen next year, and farmers would get their payments in fall 2026.
“We desperately need help, and we desperately need it now,” Dunlow said. “We’re on the verge of a crisis.”
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., agreed that the committee-passed Farm Bill is good but not coming as fast as farmers need the help.