U.S. Senate Passes Farm Bill

Late last week the U.S. Senate passed their version of a new Farm Bill that would cover the next 5 years beginning this fall. About one week ago the U.S. House of Representatives passed their Farm Bill which was very similar to the Senate Farm Bill. In addition both are very similar to the current Farm Bill that ends this fall. The Commodity Title in each bill continues the ARC County and PLC choices that farmers must make for the 5 year duration of the bill.

There are some minor differences in the House and Senate Farm Bills like payment limit caps or eligibility if a farmer's Adjusted Gross Income is very high. Those can easily be worked out in the Conference Committee. However, there is one glaring difference in the Nutrition Title. The House Farm Bill has 20 hour a week work/training requirement for healthy adults that is not in the Senate Farm Bill.

I do not know how strong the support is in the House to keep the work/training requirement in the Farm Bill. The real question is if the supporters will still vote for the Farm Bill if that requirement is removed from the Bill in the Conference Committee. I may be surprised, but still think there is a very good chance a new Farm Bill will not be passed before the elections this fall. That means the current Farm Bill would be extended for one year. Remember, that is what occurred 5 years ago. The current Farm Bill was finally passed by Congress and signed by President Obama a year late.