As agriculture leaders strive to finalize an agreement on a farm bill, there are concerns that due to congressional scheduling conflicts and competing priorities leading up to the November election, approving the $1.5 trillion spending package this year might be impractical.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has omitted the farm bill from the list of legislative priorities for the remainder of 2024, causing some Republicans to raise alarms.
Senator Chuck Grassley highlighted the impending expiration of the one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill on September 30 in a letter to Schumer on Tuesday, stressing the urgency for the Senate to collaborate and pass a bipartisan Farm Bill before this deadline.
In an effort to address significant political hurdles hindering progress on the farm bill, Republicans are pursuing separate legislation. One such initiative, the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience Act introduced on Wednesday, aims to increase crop premium support for the highest levels of coverage.
Should the farm bill advance out of committee prior to Memorial Day, lawmakers would have approximately 35 legislative days to navigate its passage through both chambers. Achieving this before the September 30 deadline necessitates bipartisan compromise, as emphasized by Grassley in his letter to Schumer.
Grassley called upon Schumer and his Democratic colleagues in the Senate to engage in the challenging task of fostering bipartisanship and advancing a Farm Bill this year, reiterating Schumer’s assertion of Democrats’ willingness to collaborate with Republicans in finding common ground.
