NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Roger McEowen, the Professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation at Washburn University School of Law said he's read the drafts of the Farm Bill so far, and he's dubious that it will get done quickly.
"We're early in the process and I'm one of those that thinks that we won't actually get a farm bill this year," McEowen said. "I think this is the road to nowhere. We'll just get another extension in my view, as things look to me like right now, which the 2018 farm bill was already extended into 2024. We got an extension through the end of this government fiscal year, which is the end of September. I think frankly, they'll do the same thing, but we do have the chairman's mark, which passed out of committee on May 23. There are not enough votes. They're going to have to have more support across the aisle on the Senate side."
There are some issues that are going to hang up the bipartisanship necessary to get this across the line.
"The vast majority of the spending of a farm bill is going to the nutrition title, which is food stamps," McEowen said. "We don't call it that anymore. That's the old food stamp program that's there, but yeah, that's what it is. And that's where a lot of the contention comes in, particularly on the Senate side. The other thing that's contentious here would be the conservation title of this bill. And the House, the chairman's mark removes the requirement that funding that was contained in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 be committed to certain, what they call climate smart ag practices. And it repurposes those funds to more traditional type conservation programs, and the Democrats are not going to like that on the Senate side. That's going to be another bone of contention there. That's another area where I just can't see them getting past an impasse on that."
The problem with trying to get anything done in an election year is timing.
"I think a lot of farmers, frankly, could live with another year extension of the existing farm bill," McEowen said. "The thing is for most farmers, they just want to know what the policy is going to be sooner rather than later. And we may not know that until we get into September."
Action has to happen for either an extension or the passage of a new farm bill by September 30.
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