After months of wondering if it could be done, the House and Senate completed work on a new five-year farm bill this week. The House passed the bill Wednesday afternoon by a strong bipartisan vote of 369-47. The Senate passed the bill Tuesday by a vote of 87-13. The bill now heads to the president, who is expected to sign it.

House Agriculture Committee chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, said in his floor speech ahead of the vote that he had to make a decision on whether to get the farm bill done or continue to fight for the reforms he sought.

“Ultimately, I had to make a decision between making as many inroads on reform in these areas as I could OR allow farmers and ranchers to be held hostage. Faced with that choice, I chose the route of getting this farm bill done. We made inroads wherever we could on important reforms, and we worked to provide the strongest safety net possible for our nation’s farmers and ranchers,” Conaway said.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue commended Congress for bringing the farm bill across the finish line and will be encouraging Trump to sign it.

Perdue said the passage of the farm bill is good news because it provides a strong safety net for farmers and ranchers, who need the dependability and certainty this legislation affords. 

“This farm bill will help producers make decisions about the future while also investing in important agricultural research and supporting trade programs to bolster exports,” Perdue said. “While I feel there were missed opportunities in forest management and in improving work requirements for certain [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] recipients, this bill does include several helpful provisions, and we will continue to build upon these through our authorities.”

Many agricultural groups offered their praise and appreciation to Congress for working to get the farm bill done.

American Soybean Association (ASA) President Davie Stephens, a soybean farmer from Clinton, Ky., said, “This legislation will undoubtedly provide a needed layer of stability and certainty for our soy industry and across agriculture. Timely passage of a new farm bill as opposed to another temporary extension this year will offer significant benefits to our industry, including resources for market development, crop insurance provisions, and more for the next five years.”

Here's a quick glance at some of the bill’s major accomplishments:

Crop insurance

The top goal for many farmers was preserving crop insurance. The updated bill directs research and development to improve existing policies or develop policies for quality loss, grain sorghum and limited irrigation practices. It also allows producers to establish a single enterprise unit by combining enterprise units across counties or enterprise units with basic units and optional units in one or more other counties.

The language also includes voluntary conservation practices, such as cover crops, as a good farming practice under crop insurance and ensures that the planting of a cover crop does not affect the insurability of a subsequent crop.

Commodity title

The commodity title reauthorizes and improves the Price Loss Coverage (PLC), the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) County and the ARC Individual programs. Specifically, the bill allows producers to sign up for the county option under the ARC program or the PLC program for 2019-20 crops and annually for 2021, 2022 and 2023 on a farm-by-farm and crop-by-crop basis.

The bill strengthens the Agriculture Risk Coverage-county program through administrative improvements, including a one-time program change option, an increase to the plug yield for disaster years, the use of a trend-adjusted yield factor and a market adjustment provision for the floor price.

Conservation 

Overall, the conference report retains the Senate structure and approach to working lands conservation programs, retaining both the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and EQIP as stand-alone programs.

The conferees adopted a reasonable CRP [Conservation Reserve Program] limit of 27 million acres, with 2 million acres of those expressly reserved for grasslands.

The bill invests in regional conservation partnerships by tripling mandatory funding, which will leverage nearly $3 billion in new private investment in locally led conservation over the next decade while also streamlining requirements for farmers and local partners leading the projects.

Trade

The bill expands export opportunities by securing an additional $500 million in permanent funding over the next decade to help farmers find new global markets for their goods.

The bill reauthorizes the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program,at $200 million and $34.5 million respectively, the same level as the last farm bill. A Priority Trust Fund will provide $3.5 million per year to programs for which requests are greater than the funds available. The bill also allows FMD funds to be used in Cuba.

Animal disease

Under the new Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be able to use funds for a Foot-and-Mouth Disease vaccine bank; for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN), which provides disease surveillance and diagnostic support; and for state efforts to prepare for any foreign animal disease outbreak.

The 2018 Farm Bill includes mandatory animal health and disease preparedness funding of $120 million for the first four years of the bill. At least $5 million per year must go to the National Animal Disease Preparedness Program in the form of state block grants, and the remaining dollars can be allocated across the vaccine bank, NAHLN and state block grants. Additionally, NAHLN is authorized for another $30 million per year for all five years of the bill. The fifth year of the bill includes another mandatory $30 million for all three programs, but at least $18 million must go toward the state block grants. The bill also authorizes appropriations for the vaccine bank and the National Animal Disease Preparedness Program for sums determined to be necessary.

Research

Overall, the bill increases federal investment in agricultural research, including additional mandatory funding of $185 million for the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research.

The final bill maintains authorization for the Agriculture & Food Research Initiative at $700 million per year and directs USDA to utilize the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine's “Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food & Agricultural Research by 2030” consensus report, which identifies priority research areas for developing a more efficient, resilient, sustainable and competitive U.S. agricultural system.