House passes farm bill by 224-200 vote; fight awaits in Senate

A day after negotiations stalled over issues including a fuel fracas, the U.S. House passed its farm bill by a 224-200 vote.

Thursday’s vote marks the farthest a farm bill has made it in Congress since the most recent reauthorization was signed into law in 2018, according to a Politico report.

“This bill includes key bipartisan provisions that would strengthen the competitiveness of family farms producing specialty crops across the nation,”the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) said in an April 30 statement.

“As specialty crop producers face urgent and unprecedented economic pressures, enacting a comprehensive five-year farm bill is vital to their sustainability and to the communities they serve. We strongly urge the Senate to act swiftly so that a bipartisan farm bill can get through conference and to the President’s desk this year. American specialty crop growers cannot afford further delay.”

The SCFBA is co-chaired by Cathy Burns, CEO of the International Fresh Produce Association; Mike Joyner, president of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association; Dave Puglia, president and CEO of Western Growers; and Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council.

A House vote was delayed April 29 after Republican House leaders faced backlash from some GOP members who took issue with parts of ag committee farm bill draft or tried to add amendments to the package.

Momentum had built for a floor vote on the bill by the end of April, with House agriculture committee chair Glenn Thompson pushing for an additional $20 billion to help farmers offset rising production costs.

“Producers are currently facing some of the toughest times in farm economy since the 1980s farm crisis,” Thompson told Politico earlier this week. “And the simple fact is that the 2018 policies are no match for 2026 challenges.”

Republican leaders agreed to tack onto the farm bill a plan to allow year-round sales of E15 fuel (gasoline blended with 10.5% to 15% ethanol) earlier this week, leading to protests from oil state lawmakers. Leaders agreed to remove the provision and hold a standalone E15 vote on May 13, which means the House’s farm bill can’t be sent to the Senate until that time.

Policy disagreements loom in the Senate, where a farm bill text or timeline has yet to be introduced. Senate Agriculture Committee chair John Boozman has said he expects to remove some of the more controversial pieces of Thompson’s farm bill to meet the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, according to Politico.

“NASDA applauds the House of Representatives and congratulates Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson and members of the House Agriculture Committee for passing the bipartisan farm bill,” National Association of State Departments of Agriculture CEO Ted McKinney said in a statement. “This legislation supports farmers, ranchers and consumers and provides economic growth for rural communities. NASDA stands ready to continue collaboration to advance this critical legislation.”