The perils-of-Pauline fiscal cliff melodrama that occurred on New Year’s Day may be a fading memory, but the next Farm Bill drop dead date of October 1 is already fast approaching. The U.S. Grains Council does not lobby the Congress on legislative matters, but it is appropriate for us to remind stakeholders that the temporary extension of the Farm Bill through the end of this fiscal year is only a stopgap measure.
A new five year reauthorization of the Farm Bill is still urgently needed to avoid disruption or even termination of critically important export promotion programs for U.S. agricultural products.
Both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees worked long and hard on the Farm Bill in the last Congress, and that work has continued this year. Both Committees are expected to mark up their respective versions of the Farm Bill this Spring, perhaps before June. There is broad agreement on many issues. The key export promotion programs of particular interest to the Council – the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development program (FMD) – enjoy broad bipartisan support in both chambers.
Prospects for final passage remain clouded, however, by deep disagreements on a handful of items. Major differences between the House and Senate on SNAP funding levels (Food Stamps) are perhaps the biggest obstacle. (It must be remembered that nutrition programs account for more than 70 percent of USDA’s spending, so this is where the bulk of the budget battle lies.) Unfortunately, many broadly supported, non-controversial programs, including MAP and FMD, are held hostage by the impasse.
The U.S. Grains Council, like other cooperator organizations, is a public-private partnership that uses private sector funding to leverage MAP and FMD funding to support export promotion around the world. This partnership has helped make the U.S. the world’s largest agricultural exporter; agriculture, in fact, is a U.S. trade champion, and one of the biggest bright spots in the U.S. trade balance. MAP and FMD are proven, effective programs. Failure to reauthorize the Farm Bill would place these programs in jeopardy. While the Council understands that the issues delaying final passage of the Farm Bill are serious, it is still important to remind Members of Congress of the urgency of prompt action.