September 26, 2012
www.gfb.org
Vol. 30 No. 39
CONGRESS DELAYS FARM BILL VOTE UNTIL AFTER ELECTION The U.S. House of Representatives canceled its October workdays and delayed scheduled votes - including consideration of a House Agriculture Committee-passed farm bill - until after the November elections, meaning the 2008 farm bill will expire Sept. 30 without replacement legislation or an extension and leaving farmers nationwide with uncertainty as they plan for the 2013 crop year. Perhaps the most significant immediate impact will be on the dairy industry. The Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program expires on Sept. 30, leaving dairy farmers with no federal safety net. Some members of the House and Senate sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) urging them “to find the necessary offsets to maintain the MILC program at its previous coverage levels for the duration of any extension of current policy.” American Farm Bureau has urged Congress to pass a long-term farm bill to allow farmers to make more informed long-term decisions for their farms. According to American Farm Bureau Senior Director of Congressional Relations Mary Kay Thatcher, the most severe impacts likely won’t be felt until next spring, as the food stamp program, crop insurance and most conservation programs are all extended. About 40 programs under the 2008 farm bill will not continue beyond the fiscal year, including the wetlands and grassland reserve programs, some nutrition assistance, energy and rural development programs. Boehner indicated in published reports that the farm bill would be dealt with in the lame duck session after the elections. Without an extension or a replacement, U.S. farm policy will revert back to the Agriculture Act of 1949, a permanent law which supported agriculture through a provision called “parity prices,” calling for the federal government to purchase certain commodities if their market prices fell to certain levels. The parity prices would likely far exceed current market prices, but one key Georgia crop - peanuts -- isn’t included in the parity pricing table. The expiration of the farm bill isn’t without precedent, according to a July report from the Congressional Research Service, which indicated that farm bills in 1981, 1985 and 1990 were enacted by Dec. 31. The last three farm bills were enacted in the spring following the expiration of the previous farm bill. According to the report, no farm bill has started in one Congress and needed to be reintroduced in a subsequent Congress. To read the entire report, visit http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/R42442.pdf (link will open a pdf document). On July 11 the House Ag Committee passed its version of the farm bill. The Senate passed its 2012 farm bill, S. 3240, on June 21.