GOP Governors Urge Reauthorization of Farm Bill, Call 2018 Bill ‘Outdated’
By Cami Koons for Iowa Capital Dispatch
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, along with governors from 16 other states, signed a joint letter Monday urging Congress to reauthorize the farm bill and to provide “immediate financial assistance” to the agricultural sector.
“Our nation’s agriculture industry is in trouble and if meaningful support is not provided soon, the well-being of the nation is at risk,” the letter read.
The farm bill was last authorized in 2018, and after failing to reauthorize it on the typical five-year schedule in 2023, Congress extended the 2018 bill through the 2024 fiscal and crop year.
Congress failed again in the 2024 regular session to pass a new farm bill, which allocates funding for agricultural and food programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Now U.S. lawmakers are weighing the option to pass another extension of the bill, or rush to finish a new version during the lame duck session, before final provisions of the extension expire at the end of the year and new members are sworn in on January 3.
The group of GOP governors is asking Congress to pass a new version of the massive bill rather than extend the “outdated” 2018 bill another year.
The letter said the current farm bill has left farmers to operate “under a framework that is no longer viable.”
Agriculture Industry Faces ‘Powerful Headwinds’ of Inflation, High Interest Rates, Governors Say
The governors pointed to inflation, high input costs, high interest rates, natural disasters and agricultural trade deficits as “powerful headwinds” the sector has faced since the expiration of the 2018 farm bill.
“Another year-long extension will leave farmers working under an outdated plan as they continue to face evolving challenges in today’s agricultural landscape,” the letter said.
In mid November, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, chairwoman of the Senate committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry, issued an updated version of the “Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act” from earlier in the year that could serve as a new farm bill, if passed.
The updates include $39 billion in new resources for farmers, families participating in the SNAP program and rural communities, according to its summary.
Republican lawmakers have been unsupportive of the bill, with reports of House representatives rejecting the it and U.S. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas calling it “not a sincere or transparent effort to address the urgent needs of rural America.”
The governors in their letter urged Congress to fulfill “its obligation to protect and revitalize the agriculture industry before it’s too late” by reauthorizing the bill rather than extending.
“If a country can’t feed itself, fuel itself, or fight for itself, then it cannot survive,” the letter read. “It is imperative that the United States not become dependent on other countries for our food supply, while we have the best farmers and ranchers in the world right in our backyards.”
Governors who signed the letter include Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice.
Powerful headwinds? Funny they don’t mention man-caused climate change, proposed tariffs (trump had to bail out farmers the last time he initiated tariffs) and corporate shenanigans, which are the biggest threats facing farmers.