The 2014 Farm Bill will expire on Sunday, Sept. 30. Despite this looming deadline, it is highly unlikely that Congress will pass a new farm bill before the current one expires. IDFA members may have questions about how this lapse will affect current U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs.

The short answer is: It depends. Some programs covered by the farm bill are permanently authorized, such as crop insurance. Funding for nutrition programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will also be automatically renewed via the appropriations process. 

Most of the major commodity programs will also be unaffected, at least in the short term. That is because many of these programs are authorized to continue through the 2018-2019 marketing year. With respect to dairy, the Dairy Margin Protection Program won’t expire until Dec. 31, at which point permanent law provisions would kick in. 

However, there are 39 smaller USDA programs that were authorized by the 2014 farm bill that will lose funding effective Oct. 1. They include the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program which is used to create, maintain and expand long-term export markets for U.S. commodities. Among the organizations that receive funding from the FMD program is the U.S. Dairy Export Council. 

In the meantime, leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees will continue to work to craft a compromise farm bill that can pass both chambers during the lame-duck session of Congress, which is expected to convene in mid-November. If a compromise can’t be reached by mid-December, Congress is likely to extend the current farm bill until sometime in 2019 to give the new congress time to craft the next farm bill. 

Members with questions may contact Dave Carlin, IDFA senior vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy, at dcarlin@idfa.org.