New federal farm bill moves forward; previous one expired in September

With farmers still working without a federal agreement on the farm bill, the recent government shutdown left them short on information they use to sell current crops and plan their next ones during the height of harvest.

There is no official date set for the first formal meeting of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives conference committees, said Garrett Hawkins, director of national legislative programs at the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation. The Senate will be back from session the last week of October.

Hawkins said conferees' priorities will be aired during the first meeting; they agree that passing a farm bill soon is important.

Black Angus, Charlois and Semmental cows stand in their feeding pin at Bob and Shirley Aufdenberg’s Cape Girardeau County century farm Thursday. (Laura Simon)

While Washington begins to get the ball rolling on finalizing the farm bill, Missouri farmers can only wait.

The farm bill expired Sept. 30 just before the first government shutdown since the winter of 1995 and 1996. The shutdown forced about 800,000 federal workers off the job and suspended most nonessential federal programs and services, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The shutdown of USDA offices meant the publication of USDA statistical reports was postponed or canceled because the National Agricultural Statistics Service was not able to collect necessary data and analysis for the reports. Closed USDA offices also meant farmers could not speak to local USDA technicians or conservationists. Farmers were unaware of when they would receive payments, which were not being sent.

"That was a big question mark," Hawkins said.

In the midst of harvest, Hawkins said most farmers were focused on getting crops harvested rather than being too concerned with the shutdown.

Bob and Shirley Aufdenberg have owned their Century Farm about 4 miles west of Jackson for 43 years. Bob Aufdenberg's parents owned the farm before, and before that, his mother's family. The couple raises beef cattle, corn, soybeans, wheat and hay.

Farms designated as Century Farms have been owned by the same family for 100 or more years.

A Missouri Century Farm sign sits at the end of the Bob and Shirley Aufdenberg’s Cape Girardeau County farm. (Laura Simon)

For the Aufdenbergs, who have federal crop insurance and participate in government programs when they are available, the government shutdown was just an inconvenience.

"It was more of an inconvenience than a disaster," Shirley Aufdenberg said.

The lack of market reports is what the couple noticed most. Because there have been no farm forecasts, Shirley Aufdenberg said they have "absolutely no idea" of the crop planted in other regions. Market reports tell what is being harvested and provide an economic and volume outlook and other data for crops worldwide.

"That has affected the market quite a bit," which really affects the sale of their grains, or corn, wheat and soybeans, she said.

This year, there is more corn being grown and exported than last year, Shirley Aufdenberg said. The price per bushel of corn last year was about $8, and this year it may get lower than $5, she said.

"It's a supply-and-demand thing," Shirley Aufdenberg said. "It depends on what our buyers are willing to spend and how much they're willing to buy."

Dr. Michael Aide, chairman of the Department of Agriculture at Southeast Missouri State University, spoke of how the farm bill and government shutdown affected different regions of the state and country. Dunklin County, for example, is dependent on agriculture's influence on its economy more so than Cape Girardeau County, he said. Farm investments will have a greater influence on that area.

Another example is that the western United States is suffering from a shortage of labor because while the government was shutdown, migrant workers were not able to get visas, Aide said.

Because of the lack of market reports, the markets don't know how to react and may not be accurately positioned without the flow of information of the supply and demand involving international markets, which has a big influence on what price farmers receive from local purchasers for their crops, Aide said.

Another problem heightened by the lack of market reports is that farmers now are purchasing seed and fertilizer, and what they choose to plant next year may be based more on intuition than data, he said.

Because information previously available to help farmers receive loans is not available, farmers receiving loans also becomes problematic.

Even so, Aide said farmers had to continue harvesting during the shutdown for agronomic reasons, such as if corn is left in the field longer, a windstorm could knock down rotted stalks.

"You'll get it out, regardless of what world economy is doing," Aide said.

Now that the government no longer is shut down, the next step can be moving the farm bill closer.

Shirley Aufdenberg said they are keeping up with the progress of the farm bill to a certain extent, but are not sure what is being proposed.

"I'm really not sure what they're doing with it right now," she said.

There are many commonalities between the farm bills passed by the House and Senate, Hawkins said, but there will be a few major hurdles to jump before the bill makes its way to the president's desk.

One item of discussion will be the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as the food stamp program. The House's bill proposes $40 billion in cuts to the program, while the Senate's bill proposes $4 billion -- a substantial gap they must address, Hawkins said.

Another item for discussion will be the commodity title, he said. The Senate's bill has more emphasis on a revenue-based program and the House's bill has more emphasis on a target-price option.

Both the proposed bills' commodity titles are similar in their program options for farmers, Hawkins said, but some say the Senate version is more favorable to corn, soybean and wheat farmers, where others say the House's version is more favorable to cotton, rice and peanut farmers. Conferees will have to discuss the differences in the safety net options that are on the table, Hawkins said, but he does not think the differences between the two are going to lead to the downfall of the farm bill.

Another area where the two bills differ is with dairy. Both versions include a dairy bill overhaul, Hawkins said, which is the current dairy price support program that has been in place for many years and the Milk Income Loss Contract program both would be eliminated and replaced with a program that is more risk-management based and looks at margin protection.

The House passed a farm bill that changes permanent law stating if the farm bill is not passed or extended, laws would not automatically revert to those of the Depression-era. They would instead revert to commodity programs in place in the next farm bill.

The bill from the Senate continues the practice of reverting to Depression era laws when current legislation cannot be negotiated.

In the Missouri Farm Bureau's opinion, the benefit to retaining a bill that reverts back to decades-old laws is it forces Congress to revisit the farm bill every few years, Hawkins said.

"It's been a hammer in a sense in getting the farm bill written," he said.

From a taxpayer perspective, Hawkins said it is in everyone's best interest for the passing of a new five-year farm bill as opposed to an extension of the previous farm bill, because it would save between $20 billion and $30 billion.

The next step toward passing a farm bill is conferees agreeing to a conference report, or final version of the farm bill that is negotiated between conferees. The bill then is sent to both chambers for an up-or-down vote, and no amendments are allowed, Hawkins said.

If both chambers approve the bill, it goes to the president for his signature. If they do not, the bill goes back to conference, he said.

Until then, most farmers will continue business as usual while details of future farming remains in limbo.

"American agriculture is truly one of the great economic engines of the world, and if the people in Washington get it wrong, they're going to affect the entire planet," Aide said.

ashedd@semissourian.com

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