March 8, 2019
2018 Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
The farm bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an
array of agricultural and food programs. It provides an
opportunity for policymakers to comprehensively and
periodically address agricultural and food issues. In
addition to developing and enacting farm legislation,
Congress is involved in overseeing its implementation.
The farm bill is typically renewed about every five years.
Since the 1930s, 18 farm bills have been enacted (2018,
2014, 2008, 2002, 1996, 1990, 1985, 1981, 1977, 1973,
1970, 1965, 1956, 1954, 1949, 1948, 1938, and 1933).
The farm bill provides an opportunity for Congress to
comprehensively and periodically address agricultural
and food issues. The 2018 farm bill expires in 2023.
Some farm bill programs would expire without
reauthorization, such as the nutrition assistance programs
and the commodity programs. Without reauthorization,
certain basic farm commodities would revert to longabandoned—and potentially costly—supply-control and
price regimes under permanent law dating back to the
1940s. Many discretionary programs would not have
statutory authority to receive appropriations. Other
programs have permanent authority and do not need
reauthorization (e.g., crop insurance) but might be included
in a farm bill to make policy changes or achieve budgetary
goals.
Farm bills have traditionally focused on farm commodity
program support for a handful of staple commodities—
corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, dairy, and
sugar. Farm bills have become increasingly expansive in
nature since 1973, when a nutrition title was first included.
Other prominent additions since then include conservation,
horticulture, and bioenergy programs.
The omnibus nature of the farm bill can create broad
coalitions of support among sometimes conflicting interests
for policies that, individually, might have greater difficulty
negotiating the legislative process. This can lead to
competition for funds provided in a farm bill. In recent
years, more stakeholders have become involved in the
debate on farm bills, including national farm groups;
commodity associations; state organizations; nutrition and
public health officials; and advocacy groups representing
conservation, recreation, rural development, faith-based
interests, local food systems, and organic production.
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, P.L. 115-334
(H.Rept. 115-1072), referred to here as the “2018 farm
bill,” is the most recent omnibus farm bill. It was enacted in
December 2018 and succeeded the Agricultural Act of 2014
(P.L. 113-79, “2014 farm bill”). The 2018 farm bill
contains 12 titles (see text box).
Provisions in the 2018 farm bill modify some of the farm
commodity programs, expand crop insurance, amend
conservation programs, reauthorize and revise nutrition
assistance, and extend authority to appropriate funds for
many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
discretionary programs through FY2023.
The 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334), by Title
Title I, Commodity Programs: Provides support for major
commodity crops, including wheat, corn, soybeans, peanuts, rice,
dairy, and sugar, as well as disaster assistance.
Title II, Conservation: Encourages environmental stewardship
of farmlands and improved management through land retirement
and/or working lands programs.
Title III, Trade: Supports U.S. agricultural export programs and
international food assistance programs.
Title IV, Nutrition: Provides nutrition assistance for lowincome households through programs including the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Title V, Credit: Offers direct government loans to
farmers/ranchers and guarantees on private lenders’ loans.
Title VI, Rural Development: Supports rural business and
community development programs.
Title VII, Research, Extension, and Related Matters:
Supports agricultural research and extension programs.
Title VIII, Forestry: Supports forestry management programs
run by USDA’s Forest Service.
Title IX, Energy: Encourages the development of farm and
community renewable energy systems through various programs,
including grants and loan guarantees.
Title X, Horticulture: Supports the production of specialty
crops, USDA-certified organic foods, and locally produced foods
and authorizes establishing a regulatory framework for the
cultivation of industrial hemp.
Title XI, Crop Insurance: Enhances risk management through
the permanently authorized federal crop insurance program.
Title XII, Miscellaneous: Covers other programs and
assistance, including livestock and poultry production and support
for beginning farmers and ranchers.
Estimated Cost of the 2018 Farm Bill
The farm bill authorizes programs in two spending
categories: mandatory and discretionary. Programs with
mandatory spending generally operate as entitlements. The
farm bill pays for them using multiyear budget estimates
(baseline) when the law is enacted. Programs with
authorized discretionary funding are not funded in the farm
bill and require additional action by congressional
https://crsreports.congress.gov
2018 Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
appropriators. While both types of programs are important,
mandatory programs often dominate the farm bill debate.
increasing. Conservation program outlays increased steadily
since the 1990s but have leveled off in recent years (Figure
2).
At enactment in December 2018, the Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) estimated the total cost of the mandatory
programs in the farm bill would be $428 billion over its
five-year duration, FY2019-FY2023, $1.8 billion more than
a simple extension of the 2014 farm bill (Table 1).
Figure 1. Projected Outlays of the 2018 Farm Bill
(Mandatory outlays, billions of dollars, FY2019-FY2023)
Four titles account for 99% of anticipated farm bill
mandatory outlays: Nutrition, Crop Insurance, Farm
Commodity Support, and Conservation. The Nutrition title
comprises 76% of mandatory outlays, mostly for SNAP.
The remaining 24% of outlays covers mostly risk
management and commodity support (16%) and
conservation (7%) (Figure 1). Programs in all other farm
bill titles account for about 1% of mandatory outlays.
However, some programs are authorized to receive
discretionary (appropriated) funds.
Table 1. Budget for the 2018 Farm Bill
Dollars in millions, FY2019-FY2023, mandatory outlays
April 2018
baseline
Score of
P.L. 115334
Projected
outlays at
enactment
Commodities
31,340
+101
31,440
Conservation
28,715
+555
29,270
Farm bill titles
Trade
1,809
+235
2,044
325,922
+98
326,020
-2,205
+0
-2,205
98
-530
-432
Research
329
+365
694
Forestry
5
+0
5
Energy
362
+109
471
Horticulture
772
+250
1,022
38,057
-47
38,010
1,259
+685
1,944
426,462
+1,820
428,282
-
+35
35
426,462
+1,785
428,247
Nutrition
Credit
Rural Development
Crop Insurance
Miscellaneous
Subtotal
Increased revenue
Total
Source: CRS, compiled using the CBO Baseline by Title
(unpublished; April 2018), and the CBO cost estimate of the
conference agreement for H.R. 2 (December 11, 2018).
Historical Trends
Relative to historical spending, Figure 2 shows the
following trends in farm bill mandatory spending since
1990. SNAP outlays, which comprise most of the Nutrition
title, increased markedly after the recession in 2009 and
have been gradually decreasing since 2012. Crop insurance
outlays have increased steadily over the period, especially
during periods when higher market prices and high program
participation raised the value of insurable commodities.
Farm commodity programs outlays generally rise and fall
inversely with commodity prices, such as in the early 2000s
and following the return to counter-cyclical programs in the
2014 farm bill. During the past few years of generally lower
commodity prices, outlays for commodity crops have been
Source: CRS. Compiled from five-year totals in the CBO, “Baseline
Projections,” April 2018; at the title level (unpublished); and CBO
cost estimate of the conference agreement, December 11, 2018.
Figure 2. Actual and Projected Spending by Major
Farm Bill Mandatory Programs
Source: CRS using USDA and CBO data.
Notes: Darker shades of each color are actual outlays based on
USDA data; lighter shades are CBO data, including CRS analysis of
CBO data for projections at enactment of the 2018 farm bill.
CRS Products
CRS Report R45525, The 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334):
Summary and Side-by-Side Comparison.
CRS Report R45425, Budget Issues That Shaped the 2018
Farm Bill.
CRS Report R45210, Farm Bills: Major Legislative Actions,
1965-2018.
CRS Report RS22131, What Is the Farm Bill?
Renée Johnson, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
Jim Monke, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
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IF11126
2018 Farm Bill Primer: What Is the Farm Bill?
Disclaimer
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