Farm Bill Bulletin: Congress Faces Likelihood of Second Farm Bill Extension

By Kalee Olson

This blog is part of our “Farm Bill Bulletin” series, which provides intermittent updates on the development and status of our nation’s next farm bill.

With the November election in the rearview mirror, Congress is looking ahead to 2025, but a number of significant measures remain on the docket before Congress adjourns on Dec. 20. In addition to funding the federal government and potentially passing a disaster aid package, lawmakers must pass either a new farm bill or another farm bill extension.

While both the House of Representatives and the Senate have made their versions of the bill public (the House passed its legislation in May), the likelihood of a new farm bill this year is slim. Partisan disagreements on key issues have blocked meaningful progress since negotiations began in 2023. In addition, the upcoming new year will see Republicans leading the White House and both chambers of Congress, leaving little incentive for the party to compromise with their Democratic counterparts.

Instead, it is more likely that Congress will pass another farm bill extension and push the debate into 2025. The first extension of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 expired on Sept. 30 of this year, putting commodity programs at risk come Jan. 1, at which time they will revert to antiquated “permanent laws” established in the 1930s and 1940s—commonly referred to as the “cliff effect”—unless a new extension is passed.

Another farm bill extension will look largely the same as the current legislation; however, it poses a historic opportunity to increase funding for working lands conservation, specifically for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program. With support from Congress, the second extension could serve as a vehicle for moving Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds for these programs into the farm bill baseline, where they will benefit producers’ investment in conservation for generations to come. Under current legislation, IRA funding for these programs must be spent by 2031.