Updated November 28, 2023
Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
The farm bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an
discretionary programs. The 2018 farm bill, as extended,
array of agricultural and food programs. It provides an
begins expiring at the end of FY2024.
opportunity for policymakers to comprehensively and
periodically address agricultural and food issues. In
Titles of the Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334)
addition to developing and enacting farm legislation,
Title I, Commodities: Provides support for major commodity
Congress is involved in overseeing its implementation. The
crops, including wheat, corn, soybeans, peanuts, rice, dairy, and
farm bill typically is renewed about every five years. Since
sugar, as well as disaster assistance.
the 1930s, Congress has enacted 18 farm bills.
Title II, Conservation: Encourages environmental stewardship
Farm bills traditionally have focused on farm commodity
of farmlands and improved management through land retirement
program support for a handful of staple commodities—
programs, working lands programs, or both.
corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, dairy, and
Title III, Trade: Supports U.S. agricultural export programs and
sugar. Farm bills have become increasingly expansive in
international food assistance programs.
nature since 1973, when a nutrition title was first included.
Title IV, Nutrition: Provides nutrition assistance for low-
Other prominent additions since then include horticulture
income households through programs, including the
and bioenergy titles and expansion of conservation,
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
research, and rural development titles.
Title V, Credit: Offers direct government loans and guarantees
Without reauthorization, some farm bill programs expire,
to producers to buy land and operate farms and ranches.
such as the nutrition assistance and farm commodity
Title VI, Rural Development: Supports rural housing,
support programs. Other programs have permanent
community facilities, business, and utility programs through
authority and do not need reauthorization (e.g., crop
grants, loans, and guarantees.
insurance) and are included in a farm bill to make policy
Title VII, Research, Extension, and Related Matters:
changes or achieve budgetary goals. The farm bill extends
Supports agricultural research and extension programs to expand
authorizations of discretionary programs. The farm bill also
academic knowledge and help producers be more productive.
suspends long-abandoned permanent laws for certain farm
Title VIII, Forestry: Supports forestry management programs
commodity programs from the 1940s that used supply
run by USDA’s Forest Service.
controls and price regimes that would be costly if restored.
Title IX, Energy: Encourages the development of farm and
The omnibus nature of the farm bill can create broad
community renewable energy systems through various programs,
coalitions of support among sometimes conflicting interests
including grants and loan guarantees.
for policies that individually might have greater difficulty
Title X, Horticulture: Supports the production of specialty
achieving majority support in the legislative process. In
crops, USDA-certified organic foods, and locally produced foods
recent years, more stakeholders have become involved in
and authorizes a regulatory framework for industrial hemp.
the debate on farm bills, including national farm groups;
Title XI, Crop Insurance: Enhances risk management through
commodity associations; state organizations; nutrition and
the permanently authorized Federal Crop Insurance Program.
public health officials; and advocacy groups representing
Title XII, Miscellaneous: Includes programs and assistance for
conservation, recreation, rural development, faith-based
livestock and poultry production, support for beginning farmers
interests, local food systems, and organic production. These
and ranchers, and other miscellaneous and general provisions.
factors can contribute to increased interest in the allocation
of funds provided in a farm bill.
What Was the Estimated Cost in 2018?
What Is in the 2018 Farm Bill?
Farm bills authorize programs in two spending categories:
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill;
mandatory and discretionary. While both types of programs
P.L. 115-334, H.Rept. 115-1072) was the most recent
are important, mandatory programs usually dominate the
omnibus farm bill. It contained 12 titles (see text box). In
farm bill debate. Programs with mandatory spending
November 2023, Congress enacted a one-year extension to
generally operate as entitlements, and the farm bill provides
cover FY2024 and crop year 2024 (P.L. 118-22, Division
mandatory funding for programs based on multiyear budget
B, §102). Provisions in the 2018 farm bill modified some of
estimates (baseline). Programs with authorized
the farm commodity programs, expanded crop insurance,
discretionary funding are not funded in the farm bill; any
amended conservation programs, reauthorized and revised
discretionary appropriations for these programs would be
nutrition assistance, and extended authority to appropriate
provided through separate congressional action.
funds for many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
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Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
Farm bills have both 5-year and 10-year budget projections.
for other farm bill programs that are not included in the
The 10-year score for the 2018 farm bill was budget
annual projection, the current baseline for farm bill
neutral, and program outlays were projected to remain at
programs is estimated at $725 billion over 5 years
$867 billion over FY2019-FY2028 (Table 1). Four titles
(FY2024-FY2028) and $1,463 billion over 10 years
accounted for 99% of the 2018 farm bill’s mandatory
(FY2024-FY2033) (Figure 1).
spending: nutrition (primarily SNAP), commodities, crop
insurance, and conservation. Programs in all other farm bill
Figure 1. Baseline for Farm Bill Programs, by Title
titles accounted for about 1% of mandatory outlays; these
(bil ion dol ars, 10-year mandatory outlays, FY2024-FY2033)
programs were authorized to receive mostly discretionary
(appropriated) funds.
Table 1. Budget for the 2018 Farm Bill and the
Baseline in May 2023 for Farm Bill Programs
(million dol ars, 10-year mandatory outlays)
2018 Farm Bill
Baseline as of
at Enactment
May 2023
FY2019-FY2028
FY2024-FY2033
Titles
($ millions)
($ millions)
Commodities
61,414
68,556
Conservation
59,748
59,994
Trade
4,094
4,990

Nutrition
663,828
1,223,110
Source: CRS using the CBO Baseline (May 2023) for the five largest
titles, and amounts in law for programs in other titles.
Credit
-4,558
a/
Note: Total estimated at $1,463 bil ion.
Rural Development
-2,362
a/
The relative proportions of farm bill spending have shifted
Research
1,219
1,300
over time. In the 2023 projection, the nutrition title is 84%
Forestry
10
a/
of the farm bill baseline, compared with about 76% when
the 2018 farm bill was enacted and 67% in the 2008 farm
Energy
737
500
bill. Sharp increases in the nutrition title reflect pandemic
Horticulture
2,047
2,100
assistance and administrative adjustments made to SNAP
benefit calculations. For non-nutrition farm bill programs,
Crop Insurance
77,933
101,345
baseline amounts in 2023 are greater than when the 2018
Miscellaneous
3,091
800
farm bill was enacted ($240 billion over 10 years as of 2023
compared with $210 billion over 10 years in 2018).
Total
867,200
1,462,695
Sources: CRS using CRS Report R45425, Budget Issues That Shaped
Supplemental spending is not part of the baseline but may
the 2018 Farm Bil ; and CRS analysis of the Congressional Budget
be important because of its size in recent years. In FY2019
Office (CBO) Baseline, May 2023, at https://www.
and FY2020, the Trump Administration increased outlays
cbo.gov/about/products/baseline-projections-selected-programs, for
by over $25 billion to producers affected by retaliatory
the five largest titles and amounts in law for programs in other titles.
tariffs. From FY2020 to FY2022, Congress and the White
House provided over $30 billion of supplemental pandemic
Notes: a/ = Baseline for the credit title is likely negative indicating
assistance to farms and over $60 billion for nutrition. In
payments into the Farm Credit System Insurance fund. The rural
addition, P.L. 117-169 (the Inflation Reduction Act of
development title has no current programs with baseline. Baseline for
2022) added over $17 billion in outlays for programs in the
the forestry title is $10 mil ion or less.
farm bill’s conservation and energy titles. Since 2018,
Congress has authorized more than $19 billion of ad hoc
What Is the Current Farm Bill Budget?
disaster assistance for agricultural losses. In 2023, the
The CBO baseline represents budget authority and is a
Biden Administration announced $2 billion from its
projection at a particular point in time of what future federal
authority for trade promotion and food aid. Congress may
spending on mandatory programs would be assuming
address farm bill programs in light of this funding.
current law continues. It is the benchmark against which
proposed changes in law are measured. Having a baseline
provides projected future funding if policymakers decide
that programs are to continue.
CBO released the baseline for scoring bills during the 2023
legislative session in May 2023. Using this projection for
the major farm bill programs, and funding indicated in law
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Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
Information in Selected CRS Reports
Renée Johnson, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
CRS In Focus IF12233, Farm Bill Primer: Budget Dynamics
Jim Monke, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
CRS In Focus IF12115, Farm Bill Primer: Programs Without
IF12047
Baseline Beyond FY2024
CRS Report R47659, Expiration of the Farm Bill
CRS Report R45210, Farm Bills: Major Legislative Actions, 1965-
2018



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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
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF12047 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED

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