Every five years or so, a new Farm Bill is passed affecting all funding for private working lands with the goal of providing a safety net for farmers and ranchers who depend on legislation like this. The Farm Bill has a substantial impact on Texas, which heavily depends on its land for economic support through agriculture.
The 2018 Farm Bill is “an $867 billion piece of legislation on which millions of Americans depend for global trade, food production, nutrition assistance, and conservation funding,” according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
The fundamental mission of the Farm Bill is to provide a safety net to producers. “It tries to soften the blow when things are bad — and things are bad right now — so it’s very positive in that regard,” says Dr. Joe Outlaw, director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University. “It doesn’t minimize loss; it mitigates loss so they can try again next year.”
Some highlights of the newest Farm Bill include protection of crop insurance, legalization of hemp production, and expansion for the Conservation Reserve Program. Also included are provisions drawing upon the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, allowing heirs’ property owners to maintain ownership of the land. For the first time, those heirs can access helpful government programs when they involve farming and ranching operations, according to a Texas A&M Today article by Elena Watts.
“There were not many big, exciting changes to the 2014 bill, because there was not enough money to make any,” explains Outlaw. “I would describe the 2018 one basically as the existing bill with some enhancements that are designed to make the existing programs a little bit better.”
The bipartisan bill was passed with overwhelming majorities in Congress — by the House with a 386-47 vote and the Senate with an 87-13 vote.
There were several factors that made this Farm Bill agreeable across parties.
The urgency to pass the bill and corresponding strong bipartisan support was likely motivated in part by pressure from farmers worried about how the U.S.’s current trade war with China would affect them, according to a Washington Post article by Jeff Stein.
On top of that, there were political motivations. “With mid-term elections approaching before the Farm Bill was passed, Republicans wanted a victory to show they could still get bills passed, and Democrats were not in support of the work requirements that Republicans were trying to impose,” says Outlaw. “As time passed and the bill kept getting delayed, I believe the reason it was such a strong vote was because both sides agreed there was no advantage to anyone to delay it any further.”
Outlaw, who works directly with Congress on agricultural policy, concedes the only real potential issue with the bill that Texas faces is a change affecting unproductive land. Under the 2014 Farm Bill, this land received payments, and no longer will under the new bill. With approximately 3 million acres of land, Texas had large chunks of land that were receiving funding where nothing was being produced.
“This was actually one of the ideas I gave Congress — that money can be used for more important issues,” says Outlaw. “Money should be targeted at people who actually have resources at risk.”
Ultimately, the bill will probably not have life-changing effects on anyone, Outlaw says.
“The main effect of the new Farm Bill will be marginal changes that will make programs work a little bit better and provide a little bit more of a safety net,” Outlaw explains. “It’s like putting more cherries on top of the same cake.”
