Proposed Gov’t Funding Bills Don’t Include Farm Aid, E15

By Ryan Hanrahan

Progressive Farmer’s Jerry Hagstrom reported that “a package of funding bills assembled by House and Senate appropriators that needs to pass before the end of January does not contain any more aid for farmers despite a push by some lawmakers.”

“That appropriators agreed on the package of bills released Monday is something of a surprise, but Congress seems poised to pass it by Jan. 30, the date the current continuing resolution funding the government expires,” Hagstrom reported. “A vote is expected in the House this week, with a vote in the Senate next week. There had been an expectation Congress would need to pass a continuing resolution for some agencies, which would have provided a way to add farm aid.”

“Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Hoeven, R-N.D., said last week the $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance Program (FBA) the Trump administration announced in December was not enough and Congress should provide more aid in a continuing resolution,” Hagstrom reported. “The lawmakers had talked about adding as much as $15 billion in aid to a legislative package.”

“Hoeven told DTN in an email lawmakers will have to find another way to push for aid,” Hagstrom reported. “‘At this point, it looks like we will pass the appropriations bills without a continuing resolution, so there isn’t a vehicle at this time to include the additional ag disaster assistance,’ Hoeven said. ‘We will continue looking for opportunities to advance this assistance, such as a potential supplemental appropriations bill.'”

“The lack of new funding comes as the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) on Wednesday released an analysis ‘indicating the economic crisis in farm country is likely to continue this year,'” Hagstrom reported. “The analysis shows farmers will enter the 2026-27 crop year facing accumulated losses exceeding $50 billion over the past three crop years. The report also noted USDA’s Economic Research Service projects 2026-27 input costs will increase anywhere from 2.2% to 3.3% across main principal crops.”