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Updated February 22, 2023
Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
The farm bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an
The 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334), by Title
array of agricultural and food programs. It provides an
Title I, Commodities: Provides support for major commodity
opportunity for policymakers to comprehensively and
crops, including wheat, corn, soybeans, peanuts, rice, dairy, and
periodically address agricultural and food issues. In
sugar, as well as disaster assistance.
addition to developing and enacting farm legislation,
Title II, Conservation: Encourages environmental stewardship
Congress is involved in overseeing its implementation. The
of farmlands and improved management through land retirement
farm bill typically is renewed about every five years. Since
programs, working lands programs, or both.
the 1930s, Congress has enacted 18 farm bills.
Title III, Trade: Supports U.S. agricultural export programs and
Farm bills traditionally have focused on farm commodity
international food assistance programs.
program support for a handful of staple commodities—
Title IV, Nutrition: Provides nutrition assistance for low-
corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, dairy, and
income households through programs, including the
sugar. Farm bills have become increasingly expansive in
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
nature since 1973, when a nutrition title was first included.
Title V, Credit: Offers direct government loans and guarantees
Other prominent additions since then include horticulture
to producers to buy land and operate farms and ranches.
and bioenergy titles and expansion of conservation,
research, and rural development titles.
Title VI, Rural Development: Supports rural housing,
community facilities, business, and utility programs through
Without reauthorization, some farm bill programs would
grants, loans, and guarantees.
expire, such as the nutrition assistance and farm commodity
Title VII, Research, Extension, and Related Matters:
support programs. Other programs have permanent
Supports agricultural research and extension programs to expand
authority and do not need reauthorization (e.g., crop
academic knowledge and help producers be more productive.
insurance) and are included in a farm bill to make policy
Title VIII, Forestry: Supports forestry management programs
changes or achieve budgetary goals. The farm bill extends
run by USDA’s Forest Service.
authorizations of discretionary programs. The farm bill also
Title IX, Energy: Encourages the development of farm and
suspends long-abandoned permanent laws for certain farm
community renewable energy systems through various programs,
commodity programs from the 1940s that used supply
including grants and loan guarantees.
controls and price regimes that would be costly if restored.
Title X, Horticulture: Supports the production of specialty
The omnibus nature of the farm bill can create broad
crops, USDA-certified organic foods, and locally produced foods
coalitions of support among sometimes conflicting interests
and authorizes a regulatory framework for industrial hemp.
for policies that individually might have greater difficulty
Title XI, Crop Insurance: Enhances risk management through
achieving majority support in the legislative process. In
the permanently authorized Federal Crop Insurance Program.
recent years, more stakeholders have become involved in
Title XII, Miscellaneous: Includes programs and assistance for
the debate on farm bills, including national farm groups;
livestock and poultry production, support for beginning farmers
commodity associations; state organizations; nutrition and
and ranchers, and other miscellaneous and general provisions.
public health officials; and advocacy groups representing
conservation, recreation, rural development, faith-based
What Was the Estimated Cost in 2018?
interests, local food systems, and organic production. These
factors can contribute to increased interest in the allocation
Farm bills authorize programs in two spending categories:
of funds provided in a farm bill.
mandatory and discretionary. While both types of programs
are important, mandatory programs usually dominate the
What Is in the 2018 Farm Bill?
farm bill debate. Programs with mandatory spending
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill;
generally operate as entitlements, and the farm bill provides
P.L. 115-334, H.Rept. 115-1072)—enacted in December
mandatory funding for programs based on multiyear budget
2018 and generally expiring in 2023—is the most recent
estimates (baseline). Programs with authorized
omnibus farm bill. It contains 12 titles (see text box).
discretionary funding are not funded in the farm bill; any
Provisions in the 2018 farm bill modified some of the farm
discretionary appropriations for these programs would be
commodity programs, expanded crop insurance, amended
provided through separate congressional action.
conservation programs, reauthorized and revised nutrition
assistance, and extended authority to appropriate funds for
Farm bills have both 5-year and 10-year budget projections.
many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
The 10-year score for the 2018 farm bill was budget
discretionary programs through FY2023.
neutral, and program outlays were projected to remain at
$867 billion over FY2019-FY2028 (Table 1). Four titles
accounted for 99% of the 2018 farm bill’s mandatory
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Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
spending: Nutrition (primarily SNAP), Commodities, Crop
Figure 1. Baseline for Farm Bill Programs, by Title
Insurance, and Conservation. Programs in all other farm bill
(bil ion dol ars, 10-year mandatory outlays, FY2024-FY2033)
titles accounted for about 1% of mandatory outlays; these
programs were authorized to receive mostly discretionary
(appropriated) funds.
Table 1. Budget for the 2018 Farm Bill and the
Baseline in 2023 for Farm Bill Programs
(million dol ars, 10-year mandatory outlays)
2018 Farm Bill
Baseline as of
at Enactment
February 2023
FY2019-FY2028
FY2024-FY2033
Titles
($ millions)
($ millions)
Commodities
61,414
56,996
Conservation
59,748
57,479
Trade
4,094
4,810
Source: CRS using the CBO Baseline (February 2023) for the five
largest titles, and amounts in law for programs in other titles.
Nutrition
663,828
1,205,440
Note: Total estimated at $1,426 bil ion.
Credit
-4,558
a/
The relative proportions of farm bill spending have shifted
Rural Development
-2,362
a/
over time. In the 2023 projection, the Nutrition title is 85%
Research
1,219
1,300
of the farm bill baseline, compared with about 76% when
the 2018 farm bill was enacted and 67% in the 2008 farm
Forestry
10
a/
bill. Sharp increases in the Nutrition title reflect pandemic
assistance and administrative adjustments made to SNAP
Energy
737
500
benefit calculations. For non-nutrition farm bill programs,
Horticulture
2,047
2,100
baseline amounts in 2023 are greater than when the 2018
farm bill was enacted ($221 billion over 10 years as of 2023
Crop Insurance
77,933
96,974
compared with $210 billion over 10 years in 2018).
Miscellaneous
3,091
800
Supplemental spending is not part of the baseline but may
Total
867,200
1,426,399
be important because of its size in recent years. In FY2019
Sources: CRS using CRS Report R45425, Budget Issues That Shaped
and FY2020, the Trump Administration increased outlays
the 2018 Farm Bil ; and CRS analysis of the Congressional Budget
by a total of over $25 billion to farmers and ranchers
Office (CBO) Baseline, February 2023, at https://www.
affected by retaliatory tariffs. Since FY2020, Congress and
cbo.gov/about/products/baseline-projections-selected-programs, for
the White House have provided over $30 billion of
the five largest titles and amounts in law for programs in other titles.
supplemental pandemic assistance to farms and over $60
billion for nutrition. In addition, P.L. 117-169 (often
Notes: a/ = Baseline for the credit title is likely negative indicating
referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA)
payments into the Farm Credit System Insurance fund. The rural
added over $17 billion in outlays for four programs in the
development title has no current programs with baseline. Baseline for
farm bill’s Conservation title and one program in the
the forestry title is $10 mil ion or less.
Energy title. Since 2018, Congress has authorized more
What Is the Farm Bill Budget for 2023?
than $15 billion of ad hoc disaster assistance for
agricultural losses. Congress may address the effectiveness
The CBO baseline represents budget authority and is a
of farm bill programs in light of this additional funding.
projection at a particular point in time of what future federal
spending on mandatory programs would be assuming
current law continues. It is the benchmark against which
Information in Selected CRS Reports
proposed changes in law are measured. Having a baseline
CRS In Focus IF12233, Farm Bill Primer: Budget Dynamics
provides projected future funding if policymakers decide
CRS In Focus IF12115, Farm Bill Primer: Programs Without
that programs are to continue.
Baseline Beyond FY2023
CRS Report R47313, Next Farm Bill Primer Series: A Guide to
An updated CBO scoring baseline for the 2023 legislative
Agriculture and Food Programs in the 2018 Farm Bill
session is expected in spring 2023. Presently, the February
2023 CBO baseline is the best indicator of future funding
CRS Report R45210, Farm Bills: Major Legislative Actions, 1965-
availability. Using this projection for the major farm bill
2018
programs, and funding indicated in law for other farm bill
programs that are not included in the annual projection, the
Renée Johnson, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
current baseline for farm bill programs is estimated at $709
Jim Monke, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
billion over 5 years (FY2024-FY2028) and $1,426 billion
over 10 years (FY2024-FY2033) (Figure 1).
IF12047
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Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
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wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
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