House appropriators release CR, disaster relief bill

The House Appropriations Committee late Tuesday released a 1,547-page bill to fund the government through March 14, 2025, and provide various forms of assistance to farmers.
Congress is expected to pass the measure before midnight Friday, when the current continuing resolution expires, although a short-term extension of the CR could be needed if Congress does not finish its work on time.
The bill extends the 2018 farm bill through fiscal year 2025, includes $21 billion in relief for farmers and ranchers who have experienced natural disasters and $10 billion in economic assistance to farmers. It also funds USDA “orphan” programs that do not have baseline funding for one year.
The bill allows the sale of E15 gasoline year round and nationwide. But it does not, as Democrats and environmentalists had proposed, move approximately $14 billion in remaining climate-focused agricultural conservation funds from the Inflation Reduction Act into the farm bill.
It also allows families whose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been stolen to be reimbursed up to two times per year.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., said, “The bill released this evening provides much-needed relief for agriculture, including $10B in emergency economic aid, which will help address the significant losses incurred due to both weather- and market-related issues. This addition of economic support is an important financial bridge, one that will help mitigate the severe downturn in the agricultural economy.
“Looking ahead to the 119th Congress, I hope to move quickly to enact a five-year farm bill that aligns the farm safety net with the needs of producers, among many other policies, to minimize the need for annual economic aid.
“I appreciate the partnership of incoming-[Senate Agriculture Committee] Chairman [John] Boozman, [R-Ark.] as well as members and stakeholders, all who quickly and effectively highlighted the needs in farm country. These tireless efforts will lessen much of the stress for the men and women who fight to produce the food, fiber, and fuel that sustain our great nation.”
Boozman, currently the ranking member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said he “secured significant economic assistance for America’s farmers struggling to maintain operations due to rising inflation, high input costs, and low commodity prices in the continuing resolution Congress is expected to vote on in the coming days.
“An updated farm bill with an improved safety net would have minimized the need for emergency economic assistance. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to even consider a new farm bill this year. We must redouble our efforts and pass a bipartisan five-year farm bill.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is retiring, said, “I am so pleased that we were able to secure much-needed economic and natural disaster assistance for farmers across the country and that we did it without pitting one part of the farm bill against another.
“We should also celebrate that this agreement prevents a $1.5 billion cut to SNAP by extending protections to people who had their benefits stolen through no fault of their own. It invests in ag research by funding the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and permanently funding 1890 scholarships, which are so critical to growing the next generation of ag professionals. It allows for the sale of year-round E-15, which is a critical market. And it fully funds all the popular programs used by farmers and rural communities that would run out of funding if we did not act.
“Unfortunately, there is one critically important part that did not get into this package. I believe that it is political malpractice not to increase the funds available in the conservation title of the farm bill by bringing conservation and rural energy funding from the Inflation Reduction Act into the farm bill.
“Moving those resources would have made a permanent and lasting investment in popular conservation and energy programs while adding nearly $20 billion to the farm bill baseline and creating an additional $10 billion offset. This could have been used to increase economic assistance, as Democrats proposed, or it could have been invested in other farm bill needs. This idea had bipartisan support among the committee leaders and would have greatly helped Congress write a new farm bill next year.
“Let me be clear. The $10 billion investment in economic disaster assistance that we agreed to is being paid for by increasing the deficit. It could have been fully paid for by using the $10 billion in savings from moving the conservation dollars into the farm bill baseline.
“While I am relieved that we reached an agreement, it’s shocking that Republican leadership failed to support such a common-sense and bipartisan proposal.”
Zippy Duvall, president of the Republican-leaning American Farm Bureau, who had urged members of Congress not to support a bill that did not include aid to farmers, now urged its passage.
“There is no doubt in my mind that for many farmers, the critical funding in this bill could make the difference between planting a crop next year and giving up,” Duvall said. “We appreciate that members of Congress rolled up their sleeves to ensure farmers can continue to deliver the safest, most affordable and abundant food supply in the world.
“We urge Congress to pass this legislation and then return in January ready to tackle the challenges facing agriculture. Another one-year extension of the farm bill addresses immediate needs, but only a new, modernized farm bill will bring certainty for America’s families, farmers, ranchers and rural communities.”
Rob Larew, president of the Democratic-leaning National Farmers Union, told his members in an action alert: “Contact your representatives and tell them to vote YES on the Further Continuing Appropriations and Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2025.”
National Cotton Council Chairman Joe Nicosia said, “The much-needed economic and disaster relief will help mitigate the financial stress caused by a combination of increased production costs, weakening market prices, and production losses caused by natural disasters. We extend our gratitude to the House and Senate leadership for providing critical support to U.S. cotton producers. We urge all members of Congress to support the end-of-year spending package so that farmers can receive the additional support they desperately need.”

Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said, “ICBA and the nation’s community banks thank congressional leaders for including a $10 billion farm aid package in the CR that is moving toward potential enactment later this week. Many of our nation’s farmers and ranchers are in a perilous financial state due to low commodity prices, high input costs, and declining revenues in recent years. The farm aid package will assist producers suffering from economic losses and help our nation’s community bankers continue working with producers to ensure access to affordable credit.”

Mike Lavender, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, was less enthusiastic.
“For the hundreds of thousands of farmers and ranchers whose livelihood depends on building the productivity, sustainability, and resilience of their operation through conservation, today’s deal is a colossal setback,” Lavender said. “Faced with a generational opportunity to improve the futures of farm families nationwide, this deal instead prioritizes politics. NSAC thanks the many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who have fought tirelessly on behalf of farmers to defend these investments. From here, the 2025 farm bill reauthorization becomes an even more important moment to recoup a small fraction of the conservation investment left on the table today. Congress cannot continue prioritizing short-term aid while shortchanging farmers’ long-term needs. It is well past time for Congress to get serious about a farm bill rooted in sound policies that meet the needs of all farmers.”
Melissa Kaplan, senior manager of government affairs for the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, “The climate-focused conservation funds included in the IRA help farmers make their operations more resilient, building buffers against extreme weather like droughts, floods and other stressors. Congress should protect the remaining climate-focused IRA funds to ensure they continue to make farmers more climate-resilient.”

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., noted that she was the author of a provision to allow nationwide, year-round sale of E15 fuel, a blend made of gasoline and 15% bioethanol.
“My legislation is the only permanent, nationwide solution to unleashing the power of year-round E15,” Fischer said. “This will once and for all solidify President Trump’s pledge to allow the sale of year-round E15 – giving America’s producers and consumers the certainty they deserve. This will put an end to years of patchwork regulations and finally make nationwide year-round E15 a reality.”
Fischer pointed out that the National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, the American Farm Bureau Federation, Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, American Coalition for Ethanol, American Petroleum Institute, SIGMA, National Association of Truck Stop Operators, and National Association of Convenience Stores all supported her bill.

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper said, “We are very pleased to see that the long-awaited fix allowing year-round E15 is included in this package. This language would finally remove an outdated, red-tape regulatory barrier, and we remain hopeful that the continuing resolution will move swiftly through Congress and to the president’s desk for signature.”
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said, “We are grateful for the tireless work of our numerous congressional champions to get this bill included, and that congressional leadership has endorsed this common-sense, bipartisan, bicameral energy solution, and encourage senators and representatives to vote in favor of this package so that year-round E15 becomes the law of the land.”

-The Hagstrom Report