AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
There's a bundle of legislation that touches everything from food nutrition to farm subsidies here in the U.S. It's called the Farm Bill, and it expired last year. Congress has passed extensions, but as lawmakers return to Washington from their August break, an update to the Farm Bill is right there at the top of their to-do list. NPR politics reporter Ximena Bustillo joins us now. Good morning, Ximena.
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: Good morning.
RASCOE: So I mentioned food nutrition and farm subsidies. What else is in the Farm Bill?
BUSTILLO: Well, it is a sweeping piece of legislation for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, disaster aid, as well as agricultural subsidies. It is supposed to be passed every five years, and it gives Congress an opportunity to rework programs. There were topics lawmakers wanted to tackle this time around, like climate disaster relief. They wanted to address how the program is structured to allow farmers to get aid in a more streamlined way. Right now Congress has to approve money as needed, so it can be years before farmers see aid after floods, droughts and fires. Crop insurance was another related program lawmakers said needed to be reworked to try and increase access and help. This year's bill also received a new line item from the Inflation Reduction Act - that's Biden's landmark climate bill. The money was originally for conservation programs, but Republicans have been wanting to move the money to other programs.
Perhaps the biggest and most contentious part of the Farm Bill is the section on nutrition programs. It makes up roughly 80% of the funding in the bill. This is the part of the bill that deals with assistance like SNAP, and it can be a bit confusing because nutrition assistance programs are also funded through what we call the regular budget process. But the Farm Bill is, again, a time when lawmakers can change the rules of the program.
RASCOE: So there's a lot to hammer out. Where do negotiations stand?
BUSTILLO: The bill we are on right now was supposed to be renewed last year, but Congress fell behind and passed an extension instead. Then the House Agriculture Committee Republicans advanced a version of the bill out of their committee with the help of four Democrats. It's a $1.5 trillion bill that includes some bipartisan provisions of the bill - of the deal, with farm safety net programs like crop insurance that I talked about earlier. But it's not supported by enough Democrats to pass in the broader House chamber. That's because proposed changes to limit the climate change and nutrition spending are just not favorable.
Advocates warn, though, that time's running out. On Monday, over 300 organizations are preparing to send a letter to House and Senate leadership urging reauthorization of the bill this year. These range from the American Bankers Association to groups representing specific crops like sugar beets and corn to several state farm bureaus. They say that without a bill, some farmers may see financial challenges next year.
I spoke with Caleb Hopkins, a member of the American Bankers Association, and he says that the high cost of food production and low prices have left many farmers without profits, and bankers are hoping that a new bill will update these programs to help, such as by increasing lending limits.
CALEB HOPKINS: You can only go to the well so many times. So in parts of the country where we've seen stress in ag for the last two to three years, they're starting to run out of options.
BUSTILLO: He said that without a bill, banks might be limited in how much they can lend farmers, for example, risking their businesses because the limits haven't kept up with the cost increases and drops in profit.
RASCOE: So do you think there could be a deal by the end of the month or even the year?
BUSTILLO: Well, it's quite unlikely. Farm bills in recent history have not been easy to negotiate. The last farm bill to be passed without an expiration or an extension was in 2002. Many lawmakers also don't see September as a do-or-die deadline. Technically, the first programs to be affected by a complete lapse in a Farm Bill, which are likely in the dairy sector, wouldn't see a change until the end of December. So with an election coming soon, lawmakers are likely to just wait and see who controls Congress for the next year. Plus, lawmakers also have other items on there to-do list this month, namely avoiding a government shutdown.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Ximena Bustillo. Thank you so much, Ximena.
BUSTILLO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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