The US Farm Bill expired on 30 September, and the chance of a new one passing before the end of the year is "somewhat less than 50-50", Daren Coppock, president and chief executive of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), said on CropLife Retail Week.
Coppock noted that the law's main spending provisions, commodity programme and conservation funding, were already handled in the One Big Beautiful Bill earlier. What remains are policy provisions that shape farm operations and the regulatory environment, while Congress also faces a government funding deadline: a continuing resolution was keeping the government open through 11 December at the time of the interview.
Among the unfinished items that matter to farm input retailers and their customers, he listed higher Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan limits for farmers, a legal definition of biostimulants and codified language on third-party service providers, an issue ARA has pushed.
The main obstacle, he said, is a dispute over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Senate lawmakers believe changes are needed to secure enough votes, while House members warn that altering their provisions could sink the bill. "Those two positions have to come together somehow for us to get a bill done," Coppock said. The November elections could change the incentives for a lame-duck deal or push the bill to the new Congress in January.
"We've got to get this thing passed. People are just operating with too much uncertainty," he said. ARA's other priorities include year-round E15 sales, which have support in both chambers but need a bill to ride on, and additional assistance for farmers facing hard economic conditions.
Photo: Noclip / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Source: CropLife
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