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