Will the luck of the Irish shine down on Congress in March? Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., hopes so, as this is when he plans to finally get a new farm bill on the House floor.

Speaking at the 108th Pennsylvania Farm Show, Thompson said March is the soonest he will be able to get a new farm bill on the floor, as at least three weeks are needed to get it from his desk to the House Agriculture Committee and then to the House floor. Thompson is chairman of the House Ag Committee.

“And so that’s what I proposed to the speaker. He was supportive,” he said after a 90-minute listening session during the opening day of the farm show.

The current farm bill, which was scheduled to run out late last year, was extended to Sept. 30 of this year as part of a budget extension package. One big issue that could be a sticking point for negotiations is money from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, almost $20 billion, that was originally set aside for climate-smart ag practices through existing USDA programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program and others.

Thompson, and others, have stated their support to place this funding in the new farm bill as a permanent baseline, since the law dictates that no projects or funding can extend past Sept. 30, 2031. But Thompson stressed that it would take bipartisan support to get it through.

"I think we've made some compelling arguments, and I think if members are willing to, both in the House and Senate, kind of have a really honest discussion about it, it just makes sense,” he said. “Putting it in the baseline, preserving those dollars per perpetuity into the future, it just makes sense.”

Other potential issues that could be included in the next farm bill include changes to the Federal Milk Marketing Order, addressing Proposition 12 and more support for industrial hemp.

The USDA’s Federal Milk Marketing Order is in the middle of a monthslong hearing on the industry’s pricing formula. It was prompted, in part, by the changing of the formula used to set the Class I mover, which was changed from the original “higher of” Class III or IV to the average of Class III and Class IV, plus 74 cents. This was changed in the 2018 Farm Bill. But many believe the change has failed, resulting in lower milk prices to farmers.

Thompson said that he respects the current hearing process and will honor whatever the outcome of those hearings are. But he also said there should be relief in the next farm bill, although he didn’t specify what that relief would look like.

Thompson also reiterated his support to address Prop 12 in the next farm bill.

Prop 12, which was passed by California voters in 2018, requires pork sold in the Golden State, regardless of where it is produced, to come from pigs born to a sow housed in at least a 24-square-foot pen. About 14% of all pork consumed in the U.S. is in California.

The Supreme Court upheld Prop 12 last year after hearing a case brought by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the National Pork Producers Council, who claimed the law violated the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause.

In response to the court’s ruling, the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act was introduced in Congress, which would bar states from passing laws that affect agricultural production in other states. But the proposed bill has been controversial from the start.

Supporters of it say that it fixes an attempt by the nation’s most populated state to tell farmers in other states how to raise their animals. Opponents, including hundreds of lawmakers in Congress, and many prominent pork and poultry producers, are concerned that its passage would undermine markets that have opened for producers willing to make changes to their operations.

Prop 12 went into full effect Jan. 1.

AFBF has worked with Thompson’s office to insert a federal preemption of Prop 12 in the Miscellaneous title of the next farm bill, and Thompson said he is still committed to including it.

“These initiatives are emotionally driven,” he said. “We can't let emotion dictate agriculture practices. Then we run the risk of food being less affordable, less accessible and quite frankly, food insecurity.”