2024 Farm Bill Update

A final vote on the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 24, otherwise known as the Farm Bill, occurred just after midnight on Friday, May 24, after House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson recently unveiled the long-awaited Farm Bill text. The bill passed the House Ag Committee by a vote of 33-21.

Over the last year, ICGA and ISA M&P farmer leaders and members have been calling upon Indiana delegation and pertinent committee members to support the following priorities:

• Strengthen the safety net. Corn and soybean growers request that commodity programs, like Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), are strengthened to provide farmers with a safety net when they face significant drops in crop prices or revenues.
• Protect and enhance crop insurance to assist with volatile weather and crop loss. This is the most important part of the farm bill for many growers, and crop insurance must be protected and strengthened. Our farmers shared the need to increase the affordability of crop insurance for producers.
• Bolster market development. Indiana producers would like to see increased funding for the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD). Both programs are vital to the prosperity of U.S. agriculture and related businesses to provide a return on investment.
• Expand trade promotion programs to help grow and diversify agricultural markets. It is important to continue to diversify and expand our markets as trade tensions grow in countries like China and Mexico. Through trade discussions, our farmer leaders also stressed that the infrastructure of our waterways, rail, and semi-trucks are an important factor to grain trade.
• Build opportunities for biofuels. Biofuels produced from soybeans and corn grown on farms across Indiana and processed here in-state are an immediate solution to providing Hoosiers economic relief at the pump and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

The drafted bill includes several of our priorities and improvements upon existing programs for growers. A major ask that the bill provides reference price increases for all row crops. The reference price for soybeans would go from $8.40 to $10 a bushel, and the rate for corn would rise from $3.70 to $4.10 a bushel.

During the markup, corn and soybean growers supported several amendments that were filed by committee members to improve the bill. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) offered an amendment on sustainable aviation fuel that was adopted by the committee. While the farm bill has several improvements, farmers do have some concerns about the changes to the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program.

The farm bill will now move forward to the Senate in the legislative process. Follow this link for a reminder on how the farm bill will become a law.

Our organizations are pleased to see the process move forward and would like a farm bill to be signed into law this year. Indiana corn and soybean farmer leaders are preparing to meet with Indiana delegation again this summer and voice your concerns at Capitol Hill.

Membership dollars and the added numbers of farmers across Indiana empowers ISA and ICGA to positively influence policy and regulatory matters impacting the U.S. soybean and corn industry. We are your seat at the table with lawmakers when you need to be working at your operation. Become a member today.