By Rachel Cramer
Iowa’s representatives in the U.S. Senate and House voted with the majority late Friday night into Saturday morning to pass the American Relief Act, 2025. President Joe Biden signed the package into law Saturday.
Along with continued funding for federal agencies and programs through March 14, 2025, the new legislation extends the Farm Bill and provides disaster relief and economic assistance to farmers.
The Farm Bill covers price and income support for commodities, conservation, nutrition programs for low-income families, as well as rural development and research. Congress typically renegotiates the massive legislative package every five years. This is the second one-year extension for the 2018 Farm Bill, which expired again in September.
The American Relief Act allocated $10 billion for one-time emergency payments to farmers burned by low commodity prices and high production costs. Billions more are earmarked for farm losses caused by natural disasters in the last two years.
Congress dropped a provision from an earlier version of the bill that would have authorized year-round sales of the E15 ethanol blend.
Reactions range from relief to disappointment
“While I am disappointed that a new Farm Bill did not pass during this Congress, a one-year extension of the current bill provides Iowa farmers with some added certainty at a time when the ag economy remains soft,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig in a news release.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall stated that the new legislation will “keep the government open and help farmers who are struggling with natural disasters, high supply costs and out-of-reach interest rates.”
But Duvall said it was “unfortunate that the final measure did not include authorization for year-round E15 sales.”
This was echoed by the National Corn Growers Association.
“Corn growers are deeply disappointed that a permanent, year-round E15 solution was not included in the end-of-year legislation package," NCGA President Kenneth Hartman Jr. stated. "This no-cost provision would have provided a market-driven solution to farmers experiencing low corn prices."
The National Pork Producers Council said the extension “fails to address problems created by California’s Proposition 12.”
California requires pork sold in the state to come from breeding pigs with at least 24 square feet of space. While proponents of the law say it’s a win for animal welfare, many in the pork industry say it imposes a financial burden on producers and consumers. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the contentious law last year in a 5-4 decision.
The NPPC supported a Farm Bill draft in the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture that would have prevented states from banning the sale of a products from livestock raised in other states.
“After years of losing money and forcing family farms out of business, we needed the certainty [of a new Farm Bill] to make decisions yesterday," said NPPC President Lori Stevermer in a news release. "Congress’ complete disregard and inability to adequately provide assurance for producers is sure to make this a bleak holiday season for many farming families across the country."
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the American Relief Act “picks winners and losers in farm country.”
“Negotiators managed to include $10 billion in economic aid for, which only some farmers are eligible, but agreed to exclude a permanent, generational investment in conservation programs — programs which build productivity, sustainability and resilience, and for which all farmers are eligible,” stated Mike Lavender, NSAC policy director.
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