Farm Bill Confirmed to Run Past Sept. 30 Deadline

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed yesterday what was already looking to be inevitable: the farm bill will be late. Congress is running out of legislative days before the Sept. 30 deadline. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senate Agriculture chairwoman, has voiced her agreement for an end of year solution but reminds constituents that an extension is not uncommon. She says the 2018 bill was extended in September and passed into law in December.

Stabenow says the crop insurance program is permanently authorized and won’t expire, but some conservation programs will need to be extended. The partisan nature of nutrition funding continues to slow the process along with competing floor time for appropriation bills, but as House Ag Chairman GT Thompson says, it is not due to the lawmakers not doing their jobs.

Read more on the farm bill timeline here.