The lame duck session of Congress provided sound footing for the 2018 Farm Bill as it emerged as a cohesive report from a special House and Senate committee, and the bill quickly gained momentum for a sprint to the legislative finish line.

The Senate and the House passed in a big bipartisan way last week the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it this week.

Alabama Farmers Federation provided some highlights of the bill. Including:

The conference report, the foundational document of the farm bill, gives producers a new choice between ARC and PLC on a crop‐by‐crop and farm‐by‐farm basis, applied jointly to the 2019 and 2020 crop years.

Beginning in crop year 2021, producers will have the flexibility to make an annual decision between ARC and PLC on a crop‐by‐crop and farm‐by‐farm basis, according to information courtesy of ALFA. The PLC Reference Prices to adjust with improvements in market prices. This Effective Reference Price is calculated as the greater of 85 percent of the 5‐year Olympic average price and the PLC Reference Price established in the 2014 Farm Bill. In no case can the Effective Reference Price be more than 115 percent of the PLC Reference Price.

Producers may update the yield on the farm for each covered commodity to 90 percent of the average yield per planted acre on the farm from 2013‐2017—ignoring years where the covered commodity was not planted on the farm—multiplied by the yield update factor for the covered commodity listed in the table below. For any year in which the yield on the farm was less than 75 percent of the county average yield from 2013‐2017, owners may plug 75 percent of the county average yield

Fruits and Vegetables

Mike Bruorton, Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association president, said the bill contained some ‘major victories’ for the fresh produce industry. The farm bill will allocate $3 billion in resources and policy changes dedicated to support important programs targeted by the fresh fruit and vegetable industry, including:

“We are very pleased with the support of the Georgia delegation to pass this critical legislation for our growers and all of American agriculture. We appreciate the hard work of those members of the Agriculture Committee that drafted this legislation to ensure assistance and support of the fruit and vegetable industry," said GFVGA President. "This bill is a win-win for both the American consumer, to ensure they have access to nutritious fruits and vegetables, and to our GFVGA members to help with programs that support our industry. We truly appreciate the members of the Georgia delegation and their support in passing this critical legislation."

Peanut and Cotton

“This is a solid farm bill for all segments of the peanut industry and it provides stability to growers planning for the 2019 crop and beyond," says Armond Morris, a Georgia peanut farmer and chairman of the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation and Georgia Peanut Commission. "The (Congressional) conference committee leadership has worked well together and has delivered this important legislation to the president, and we really appreciate their hard work."
The bill includes many of the cotton industry’s policy priorities, according information provided by the National Cotton Council, including the continuation of the Seed Cotton ARC/PLC program.

According to U.S. Congressman Austin Scott’s (R-GA) office, the bill bolsterers broadband access to rural areas, too, including

The bill continues disaster programs such as:

Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, included in the bill a measure to legalizes hemp as an agricultural commodity by removing it from the federal list of controlled substances. It also gives states the opportunity to become the primary regulators of hemp production, allows hemp researchers to apply for competitive federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and makes hemp eligible for crop insurance. This measure builds upon the hemp pilot programs, which Senator McConnell secured in the 2014 Farm Bill, according to information provided by McConnell’s office. McConnell signed the conference committee report with a hemp pen.