SNAP disagreements will force another short-term extension --- no new Farm Bill until at least after the election

A battle that ties food aid for needy families with crop subsidies for American farmers may stall efforts to renew a sweeping agricultural policy law, forcing Congress to consider delaying action on the $1.5 trillion proposal until after this fall's elections.

The law, known as the farm bill, is set to expire Sept. 30. It typically draws bipartisan support because it combines resources for such programs as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for low-income families with updates to farm supports, including commodity price guarantees and crop insurance.

This year, however, the Republican-controlled House is writing a version of the bill that would spend less on future low-income food assistance and more on large-scale commodity farmers, while the Democratic-controlled Senate is mulling a proposal to do the opposite.

Lawmakers say the probable outcome is a stalemate that would force a temporary extension of existing policies. That would benefit Democrats and their allies by preserving the higher nutrition benefits in current law. But it would mostly leave commodity assistance unchanged, frustrating Republicans and their allies in the agricultural community.

"The world today is drastically different than it was when the current law was put into place," said Sam Kieffer, vice president of public policy at the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The farm bill is supposed to be renewed every five years. But the last one was written in 2018, before the coronavirus pandemic caused historic inflation and snarled supply chains; before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, one of the world's largest agricultural producers; before the cost per acre of U.S. farmland skyrocketed; and before President Biden and Democrats passed first-of-its-kind climate policy that weighs heavily on agriculture.

Congress must pass some sort of agriculture and nutrition legislation before the current law expires or face massive upheaval in agricultural commodities and dairy markets. Leaders in both parties said a temporary extension of current law is looking increasingly likely.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, told The Washington Post that continuing the 2018 version of the law temporarily might prove the easiest option to steer through Congress, saying, "I'm not going to support a bad bill."

The committee's top Republican, Sen. John Boozman (Ark.), agreed: "If we don't make meaningful improvements, if we don't put more farm in the farm bill, we're better off not having a new farm bill."

Lawmakers are already discussing a brief extension that would push a vote on a longer-term measure into the "lame duck" session after the November election and before the new Congress takes office in January. Lawmakers also have discussed another year-long farm bill extension; Congress passed similar legislation in November, which is why the 2018 law is still on the books now.