It’s been a whirlwind week, with changes happening by the hour in some cases. Here’s the skinny on what happened:
• The original Continuing Resolution (CR), which included economic assistance for producers, disaster assistance and an extension of the 2018 Farm Bill goes up in flames at 10:37 p.m. last Friday (December 13) during leadership negotiations.
• Once again, organizations, industry, producers, and allied Congressional Members screamed from the rooftops and salvaged production agriculture assistance from the wreckage. A new bipartisan proposal is put forth and the text is released.
• Elon Musk highlights the new proposal on X, causing select Republican Representatives to balk at supporting the package. The bill was effectively killed.
• CR Plan B was applauded by Trump, and, by a miracle (and some very hard work from advocacy organizations and allied Congressional Members), included the economic assistance, disaster assistance and farm bill extension.
• They finally get it to a vote, and it fails. By a lot. The vote of 174 to 235 included 38 no votes from Republican Representatives.
• After going back and forth on Plan C, the text was finally released. Other than removing the debt ceiling stipulation, it became the same as the previous legislation that was voted down.
• It went to a vote in the House at 4:45 p.m. (CST) and passed 366 to 34.
• The Senate took it up at 11:39 p.m. It passed 85 to 11.
• This whole thing just proves that it’s not over till it’s over.
An Overview of the Ag Portion of the Continuing Resolution-
Market-Loss Assistance
• $10 billion in total funding for all eligible commodities (Estimated per-acre payment for cotton and other commodities based on the formulas outline in the bill text)
• 90- day period for USDA implementation· Eligibility based on 2024 FSA- certified planted acres and 50% preventplant acres
• Skip-row acreage granted parity with solid plant acreage for this program
• Payments subject to the following limits:
• $125,000 if less than 75% of the average gross income of an individual or legal entity for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 tax years is derived from farming
• $250,000, if more than 75% of the average gross income of an individual or legal entity for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 tax years is derived from farming
• The intent of the gross income measure is to align with Line 9 of a producer’s Schedule F, as opposed to “adjusted gross income” Disaster Assistance
• $20.78 billion in total funding for all eligible commodities
• Applicable to the 2023 and 2024 crop years for qualifying disaster losses
• Payments subject to the following limits:
• $125,000 if less than 75% of the average gross income of an individual or legal entity for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 tax years is derived from farming
• $250,000, if more than 75% of the average gross income of an individual or legal entity for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 tax years is derived from farming
Farm Bill
• Provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill extended for the 2025 crop year We would like to express our gratitude toward those in the House and Senate who fought on behalf of our industry. They were true warriors for agriculture and we appreciate the support as producers will be able to secure financing and maintain operations through the next crop year.