The Growing Importance of a 2024 Farm Bill

In a recent op-edfor Agri-Pulse, Dr. Rob Johansson, Director of Economics and Policy Analysis for the American Sugar Alliance and former Chief Economist at the U.S, Department of Agriculture (USDA), urged Congress to pass a new Farm Bill before the year ends.

Over the past two years, Congress has held numerous hearings that have documented a brewing financial crisis caused by falling commodity prices, high input costs, and tightening farm credit. Members have heard from farmers and ranchers across the country about the need for a new Farm Bill. Now, it's time for Congress to act. Waiting would be a mistake.

I was the chief economist at the Department of Agriculture when the last farm bill was written and saw firsthand the impacts on our agricultural and food system caused by the changing climate, a trade war, and a global pandemic. It is important to have an updated farm bill to provide certainty for American farm families as they plan for a period of tightening operating margins and deteriorating credit conditions.

Significantly higher production costs and greater weather challenges have made it harder for family farms across the country to survive.

USDA is projecting the largest two-year decline in cash income for farmers and ranchers since the Great Depression. Since the last Farm Bill, input costs are up 33 percent, creating serious financial headwinds for many of America's family farmers and ranchers…

The level of farm assistance has fallen to its lowest level relative to farm income since 1981. It is clear the current suite of farm programs is fraying at the edges. Farms are leaving agriculture. Farmland is getting paved over. America is importing more and more food. U.S. agribusinesses are shuttering facilities in the Corn Belt and moving them to Mexico. And Congress is continually having to fill in gaps caused by an inadequate safety net.

America is losing farms - harming our economy and our national food security - and it's time for Congress to act on a five-year Farm Bill that strengthens the farm safety net.

Because of American farm families, we have the most abundant and diverse food supply in world. Our farmers and ranchers are as efficient and productive as any in the world. We can't risk that by making them wait longer for programs that reflect today's realities. They need improved certainty now for securing credit needed for the next planting season and longer-run investments in productivity.

The message is clear. Hard-working American farmers and ranchers across the country are asking Congress to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill this year.

[F]arm and ranch families are urgently calling on Congress to pass a bipartisan farm bill that delivers greater certainty for rural America, provides a stronger farm safety net, and strengthens our national food security. All of us who benefit from the bountiful and efficient food and agriculture system in America should also demand it.

Read Dr. Johansson's full op-edin Agri-Pulse to see why Congress should pass a strong Farm Bill.

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