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1 [1] (September 28, 2018)

handle is hein.crs/govchwp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF. ' riE S-.3 $rh &. , Updated September 28, 2018 Expiration of the 2014 Farm Bill: Some Potential Implications The farm bill is an omnibus, multi-year law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. It provides an opportunity for policymakers to periodically address a broad range of agricultural and food issues. The farm bill has typically undergone reauthorization about every five years. In the past, farm bills have focused primarily on farm commodity program support for a handful of staple commodities-corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, dairy, and sugar. Farm bills have become increasingly expansive in their topical scope since 1973, when a nutrition title was included. Other prominent additions include conservation, horticulture, and bioenergy programs. The 115th Congress could establish the future direction of farm and food policy, because many of the provisions in the current farm bill (the Agricultural Act of 2014, P.L. 113-79) expire in 2018. Recent farm bills have been subject to various developments, such as insufficient votes to pass the House floor, presidential vetoes, or-as in the case of 2008 and 2014-short-term extensions. The 2002 farm bill was the most recent to be enacted before the fiscal year expiration date for some programs. The timing and consequences of farm bill expiration vary by program across the breadth of the farm bill. There are two principal expiration dates: September 30 and December 31. The most recent farm bill-the 2014 farm bill (the Agricultural Act of 2014, P.L. 113-79)-generally expires either at the end of FY2018 (September 30, 2018), or with the 2018 crop year that varies by crop. A crop year refers to the year in which a commodity is harvested. A marketing year follows the crop year and is the 12 months following harvest during which the crop is typically sold, perhaps under terms of the relevant government program. The possible consequences of expiration range from minimal disruption (if the program is able to be continued via appropriations), ceasing new activity (if its authorization to use mandatory funding expires), or reverting to permanent laws enacted decades ago. b , zy R Yetar Expiration of a farm bill on a September 30 fiscal year matters for programs with fiscal year authorizations. These programs include certain nutrition, conservation, and trade programs, various agricultural programs excluding the Title I commodity programs, along with many authorizations for discretionary appropriations. Although the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has an authorization of appropriations ending September 30, it (and other related programs in the SNAP account) can continue to operate with an appropriation. zrxirkm by -ae ,&ar Year Expiration after October 1, at the end of a calendar year, matters mostly for the farm commodity programs. In the event that the current farm law would expire without replacement legislation or an extension, the first commodity to be affected would be dairy with a crop year that begins on January 1, 2019. for S~ektNd P -orakkm\'N An appropriations act or a continuing resolution can continue some farm bill programs even though a program's authority has expired. Programs using discretionary funding-and programs using appropriated mandatory funding like those in the SNAP account-can continue to operate via appropriations action. Most farm bill programs with mandatory funding (with the exception of the largest three: SNAP and programs in the SNAP account, farm commodity programs, and crop insurance) generally cease new operations when they expire (e.g., the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and Market Assistance Program (MAP)). However, existing contracts under prior-year authority generally could continue to be paid. The mandatory farm commodity programs would begin reverting to permanent law beginning with the 2019 crop year, for which dairy is the first to be affected, beginning on January 1, 2019. However, payments for the 2018 crop year would continue to be authorized from the 2014 farm bill, including final payments for corn and soybeans that would be made as late as October 2019 after the 2018 crop's marketing year. Crop insurance is an example of a permanently authorized and funded mandatory program that does not expire. One mandatory conservation program-the Environmental Quality Incentives Program-was extended through FY2019 prior to expiration, so would not expire like other programs. Permanent law refers to non-expiring farm commodity programs that are generally from the 1938 and 1949 farm bills. The temporary suspension of permanent law has been included as a section in all recent farm bills. If the suspension of permanent law were to expire at the end of a crop year, the permanent law provisions would take effect .O 'T mppm qq\ p\w gn'a', ggmm a 'S I 11LULANJILiN,

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