Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2024 Appropriations

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INSIGHTi

Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2024
Appropriations

Updated March 13, 2024
Status of Agriculture Appropriations
Agriculture appropriations—formally known as the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug
Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act—funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
excluding the U.S. Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration in the Department of
Health and Human Services and, in even-numbered fiscal years, the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC).
The appropriation for FY2024 is Division B of a six-bill minibus, P.L. 118-42, enacted on March 9, 2024,
following four continuing resolutions (Table 1).
Table 1. Status of FY2022-FY2024 Agriculture Appropriations
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024



House
Senate


Admin
House
Senate
Enacteda
Enactedb
Request
Cmte
Floor
Cmte
Floor
CR
Enacted
3/15/2022
12/29/2022
3/13/2023
6/14/2023
9/28/2023
6/22/2023
11/1/2023
P.L. 118-15 3/9/2024
P.L. 117-103, P.L. 117-328,
OMB
H.R. 4368
H.R. 4368
S. 2131
H.R. 4366,
9/30/2023
P.L. 118-
Division A
Division A
Appendix
Division B
to Nov. 17
42 ,
USDA
H.Rept. 118-
Failed by
S.Rept. 118-
Cong. Rec.
Cong. Rec.
P.L. 118-22 Division B
FDA
124
vote of
44
Vote of
3/9/2022,
12/20/2022
11/16/2023
CFTC
Vote of
191-237
Vote of
82-15
Votes of
Book III
S7819
to Jan. 19
FCA
34-27
28-0
339-85,
P.L. 118-35
75-22
1/19/2024
Joint
to Mar. 1
Explan.
P.L. 118-40 Statement
3/1/2024 to
Mar. 8.
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
IN12158
CRS INSIGHT
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Committees of Congress




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Source: CRS using Congress.gov, OMB, and agency websites.
Notes: OMB = Office of Management and Budget; USDA = U.S. Department of Agriculture; FDA = Food and Drug
Administration; FCA = Farm Credit Administration; CFTC = Commodity Futures Trading Commission; CR = continuing
resolution.
a. For FY2022, see House-reported H.R. 4356, H.Rept. 117-82, House-passed H.R. 4502 (Division B), Senate-reported
S. 2599, and S.Rept. 117-34.
b. For FY2023, see House-reported H.R. 8239, H.Rept. 117-392, House-passed H.R. 8294 (Division B), and Senate-
introduced S. 4661 with unofficial explanation.
Scope of Agricultural Spending
The federal budget treats discretionary and mandatory spending differently. Congress organizes
committees around these types of spending and their responsibilities for authorizing and appropriating.
Agricultural programs rely on both types of spending.
Discretionary spending is the focus of the appropriations process. Budget enforcement
is through resolutions and laws that set spending limits. Discretionary spending typically
provides agency operations and grant programs. In FY2024, discretionary Agriculture
appropriations are $26.2 billion (Table 2, Figure 1).
Mandatory spending is minimally addressed during the appropriations process and
supports entitlement programs. Budget enforcement occurs during the authorization
process (e.g., omnibus farm bills, which follow budget rules including Pay-As-You-Go).
In FY2024, mandatory agriculture and nutrition spending is $185 billion.
Appropriations Amounts
The House-reported bill proposed $25.9 billion for agency operations, excluding CFTC—a $615 million
reduction from FY2023 (-2%, Table 2)—and $8.4 billion of rescissions and scorekeeping adjustments,
including $5.8 billion from farm loan debt relief and rural energy programs in the Inflation Reduction Act
(P.L. 117-169) and $1.7 billion from limiting the Commodity Credit Corporation and Section 32 accounts.
The total would have been $17.8 billion (-31% from FY2023). The bill failed on the House floor.
The Senate-passed proposal was $26.8 billion for agency operations, a $292 million increase over
FY2023 (+1%). The official total would have been $26.0 billion, $517 million above FY2023 (+2%),
without CFTC.
The enacted discretionary appropriation totals $26.2 billion, $387 million (1.5%) greater than FY2023.
The act includes a $1 billion increase for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC) and reductions to most other program areas (Table 2). In addition, a
repurposing of unobligated appropriations that is not included in Table 2 increases Rural Development
Community Facilities by $505 million and Food for Peace by $68 million without increasing the cost of
the appropriation.


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Table 2. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, FY2022-FY2024
Budget authority in millions of dollars
Change from
FY2023 to FY2024

FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
Enacted
Senate-
House-
passed
Enacted
P.L. 117- P.L. 117-
reported
H.R.
P.L. 118-
103, Div. 328, Div. Admin.
H.R.
4366,
42, Div.
Agencies and Programs
A
A
request
4368
Div. B
B
$
%
Discretionary Accounts








Research, Education, and Economics
(Agricultural Research Service, National
Institute of Food and Agriculture, National
Agricultural Statistics Service, Economic
Research Service)
3,676
3,823
4,188
3,732
3,868
3,802
-21
-0.6%
Marketing and Regulatory Programs
(Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
Agricultural Marketing Service)
1,341
1,413
1,448
1,355
1,420
1,387
-26
-1.9%
Food Safety and Inspection Service
1,109
1,158
1,290
1,197
1,205
1,190
+32
+2.7%
Farm Service Agency, Risk Management
Agency, Business Center

1,868
1,923
2,020
1,904
1,946
1,916
-7
-0.4%
Natural Resources Conservation Service
(Conservation Operations, Watershed and
Flood Prevention, Watershed Rehabilitation,
Healthy Forests, Urban Agriculture)
1,005
1,034
1,227
911
1,015
951
-83
-8.0%
Rural Development (Rural Housing Service,
Rural Business Cooperative Service, Rural
Utilities Service)
3,970
4,079
4,861
4,038
3,941
3,570a
-509
-12.5%
Food and Nutrition Service (WIC;
Commodity Assistance Programs; Nutrition
Programs Administration)b
6,709
6,741
7,066
6,638
7,027
7,710
+970
+14.4%
Foreign Agricultural Service (Food for
Peace, McGovern-Dole)
2,217
2,242
2,311
2,223
2,297
2,097a
-144
-6.4%
USDA Departmental Administration and
other appropriations in General Provisions
666
578
733
416
545
515
-63
-11.0%
Food and Drug Administration
3,317
3,543
3,915
3,504
3,563
3,527
-16
-0.4%
Subtotal: Agency Operations
25,878
26,534
29,059
25,919
26,825
26,666
+132
+0.5%
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC)
c
382
[365]
295
345
[365]d
365
+0
+0.0%
Rescissions, Changes in Mandatory
Spending, Scorekeeping Adjustments

-1,139
-1,061
-462
-8,430
-836
-807
+254
-23.9%
Total, Discretionary Budget Authority








Senate Jurisdictionc
[24,738]
25,471
28,595
[17,488]
25,988
[25,858]
+387
+1.5%
House Jurisdictionc
25,120
[25,836]
28,890
17,833
[26,353]
26,223
+387
+1.5%
Mandatory Spending








Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
12,281
15,395
14,695
14,695
14,695
15,484
+89
+0.6%


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Change from
FY2023 to FY2024

FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
Enacted
Commodity Credit Corporation
14,402
16,832
10,612
10,612
10,612
12,438
-4,394
-26.1%
Section 32 (Funds for Strengthening
Markets, Income, and Supply)
1,391
1,483
1,574
574
1,574
1,574
+91
+6.1%
Child Nutrition Programsb
26,789
28,456
32,009
31,973
32,001
33,250
+4,794
+16.8%
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), and Food & Nutrition
Act Programsb
140,438
153,861
149,641
121,992
122,133
122,377
-31,484
-20.5%
Total, Mandatory Spending
195,301
216,027
208,531
179,846
181,015
185,123
-30,904
-14.3%
Loan Authority








Rural Development Programs
46,208
46,870
44,874
45,979
45,884
40,465
-6,405
-13.7%
Farm Loan Program
10,386
10,652
10,686
10,686
10,686
10,686
+33
+0.3%
Source: CRS using appropriations text, reports, and unpublished Congressional Budget Office (CBO) tables.
Notes: Amounts are nominal budget authority. Numbers may not sum to totals shown because of rounding. Excludes
supplemental appropriations.
a. A repurposing of unobligated appropriations (§778) that is not included in the table increases Rural Development
Community Facilities by $505 mil ion and Food for Peace by $68 mil ion.
b. Reflects that CBO scores a portion of the Child Nutrition Program and SNAP as discretionary spending (less than
$100 mil ion).
c. Chamber notation refers to Agriculture appropriations jurisdiction. Bracketed amounts are noted for comparison.
Enacted CFTC appropriations rotate annually between Agriculture and Financial Services subcommittees.
d. S. 2309, Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024.


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Congressional Research Service
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Figure 1. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, FY2024
Budget authority in billions of dollars

Source: CRS, Table 2.
Related Products About Agricultural Spending
• CRS Report R47560, Agricultural Conservation: FY2023 and FY2024 Appropriations
• CRS In Focus IF12233, Farm Bill Primer: Budget Dynamics
• CRS Report R47659, Expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill and Extension in 2024

Author Information

Jim Monke

Specialist in Agricultural Policy




Disclaimer


Congressional Research Service
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IN12158 · VERSION 11 · UPDATED