By Clint Thompson
Following the recent elections, the messaging remains the same from agricultural groups to legislative leaders – devise a new farm bill sooner rather than later.
Bob Redding, who works for the Redding Firm and serves as a lobbyist for ag groups in Washington, D.C., discussed the current outlook for the important piece of legislation that is overdue.
“I know that leadership wants to get a farm bill done. Time is running out. I know farm groups all want to get it done. The messaging in all of the commodity meetings that I’ve been in is, we really need to get this behind us,” Redding said. “But if it does roll (over), getting it for the ’25 crop is essential. Using the 2018 reference prices in the 2018 farm bill did not address the seasonal import problem and a host of other issues.
“If it does roll and I think it certainly could, we just want it done as quickly as possible. Think about this with these farm programs, these guys even for the 2025 crop, they don’t receive any kind of payment until October 2026. Let’s say the farm bill rolls. We had hoped to do it last year, and it didn’t happen. The House Ag moved their bill forward. We didn’t get a bill out of Senate Ag. The House Bill is a great farm bill, but we need to get it all the way. Clearly these growers need some type of assistance across the board, all of them.”
Farm Bill Background
The farm bill is a piece of legislation that is scheduled to be renewed every five years. President Trump signed the Farm Bill into law on Dec. 20, 2018. But it expired at the end of September, 2023. The 2018 farm bill totaled $800 billion. The next farm bill could approach $1.5 trillion.