Senate Ag Leaders Ask for More Farm Bill Funds

Senate Ag Committee leaders penned a letter this week to the Senate Budget Committee, requesting additional funds to complete the 2023 farm bill. Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-Ar.) said drawing on reserves “to strengthen farm and food safety nets” became clear in farm bill hearings.

Pulling from reserve funds will help put an end to ad hoc disaster assistance, according to Stabenow and Boozman.

“Since 2018, the Federal Government has approved more than $90 billion in ad hoc assistance for farmers and ranchers in response to Chinese tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports, the pandemic, and increasingly unpredictable climate-related disasters,” the letter says. “A commitment to additional financial resources for the farm bill will help to transition our farm and food supplies away from ad hoc support.”

Risk Management in the Farm Bill

Stabenow and Boozman also mentioned their concern in the status of the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) ag market data that is needed to quantify risk management in a farm bill.

“CBO currently projects 10-year average commodity prices that are well below price projections from leading subject matter experts at the USDA and demonstrate a much faster decline toward a long-run average price,” the committee members wrote. “As a result, estimates of changes to risk management tools in the farm bill will likely reflect greater increases in direct spending than if CBO commodity price projections and trajectories were more in line with those of leading industry experts. 

The CBO data was to have been released over one year ago. To help expedite the process, the Senators requested the Budget Committee supports them in working with the CBO to secure “accurate” information in a timely manner.

Farm Bill Spending Assurances

The letter also urges no funding cuts for the panel to write the next farm bill. 

“As the Committee on the Budget considers federal spending for FY 2024, we ask that you help us maintain certainty for agriculture producers, families, and rural communities, and propose no cuts to food and agriculture spending,” the letter said.