As of June 2024, three proposals have been released on the 2024 Farm Bill – one in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate. This article is the third in a series outlining the themes in these three proposals and this article will cover the Trade, Credit, and Research and Extension titles.
Background
The Farm Bill is a multi-year comprehensive law, containing twelve separate Titles, that governs most aspects of food and agriculture in the United States (“U.S”). The Farm Bill was originally enacted in 1933 as part of the New Deal and is typically reauthorized every five years. The 2018 Farm Bill was set to expire in 2023. However, Congress passed a one-year extension. If Congress does not pass a new Farm Bill or another extension this year, some programs will expire at the end of the federal government’s fiscal year, which is September 30, 2024, and other programs will expire at the end of the 2024 crop year, which is December 31, 2024.
In 2018, the total baseline budget over ten years in the Farm Bill was approximately $867 billion. Of this, the Trade, Credit, and Research and Extension titles accounted for approximately one percent of the budget. The total projected baseline budget for the 2024 Farm Bill is $1.4 trillion, and of this, the Trade, Credit, and Research and Extension titles will account for less than one percent.
Three proposals for the 2024 Farm Bill have been released, one in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate. On May 17, 2025, House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson released the text of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (“House Proposal”) and a title-by-title summary. On May 23, 2024, the House Agriculture Committee held a markup meeting, where members offered, debated, and voted on amendments to the bill. The bill was voted out of committee and will now be considered by the entire House of Representatives. On May 1, 2024, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow released a section-by-section summary of the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act (“Senate Majority Proposal”). Senator Stabenow has not released the full text of the bill or scheduled a markup meeting. On June 11, 2024, Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman released title-by-title summaries of the Senate Minority (“Senate Minority Proposal”). Senator Boozman has not released the full text of the bill and a markup meeting has not been scheduled.
Title 3: Trade
Programs within the Trade title primarily support agricultural export programs and international food assistance programs. The trade provisions in the three Farm Bill proposals fit into three categories – export promotion programs, the Food for Peace program, and programs to reduce trade barriers & infrastructure deficiencies.
All three Farm Bill proposals increase funding for export promotion programs. The House Proposal and Senate Minority Proposal would doubling the funding for the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program. While the Senate Majority Proposal also increases funding for these two programs, the proposal identifies other programs that would also receive an increase in funding, such as the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops program and the Priority Trade Fund. The Market Access Program, Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program, and Priority Trade Fund are programs that provide funding to improve access to foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products. The Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops program provides funding for projects that reduce trade barriers for U.S. specialty crops.
Additionally, the three proposals would amend the Food for Peace Program, which is a program originally started by President Eisenhower to provide food assistance throughout the world. The program is administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The three proposals would add a provision to the program, reserving a specified percentage of available funds for procuring U.S. grown commodities and the ocean shipping costs associated with transporting the commodities. Both the Senate Majority and Minority Proposals would amend the definition of agricultural commodity under the Food for Peace Act to include specialized nutrition products, which would allow ready-to-use therapeutic foods to be classified as an agricultural commodity. Ready-to-use therapeutic foods are used to treat severe acute malnutrition in children. Lastly, the Senate Majority Proposal would direct USAID to spend at least eighteen percent of funding on non-emergency food assistance, which includes food distribution, education, and community development.
Lastly, the three proposals also address programs intended to reduce trade barriers and infrastructure deficiencies. One way that the proposals achieve this intention is by protecting the use of common names by U.S. agricultural and food products. Specifically, the House Proposal states that “USDA [would be] directed to secure foreign markets for goods using common names (i.e. parmesan, bologna), preventing foreign countries from using their economic and political influence to implement unfair trade practices under the guise of protecting geographical indications.” Additionally, both the Senate Majority and Minority Proposals would amend the Food for Progress program, which “helps developing countries and emerging democracies modernize and strengthen their agricultural sectors.” Both proposals would prohibit USDA from awarding all of the Food for Progress program funding to a single entity.
Title 5: Credit
The programs in the Credit title primarily provide farmers and ranchers with direct and guaranteed loans. The credit provisions in the three Farm Bill proposals fit into four categories – provisions related to loans in general, beginning farmer and rancher programs, provisions related to commercial lenders, and state mediation programs. For a NALC overview of the Farm Credit System, including information on direct and guaranteed loans, click here
The three Farm Bill proposals would update the loan provisions throughout the title by increasing the loan limits that borrowers can receive across many loan types, such as direct and guaranteed farm ownership loans, direct and guaranteed farm operating loans, and microloans. All three proposals would also allow distressed guaranteed loans to be refinanced into a direct loan. The Senate Majority and Minority Proposals would allow specified loan funds to be used for farmers to adopt precision agriculture practices. Lastly, the Senate Minority Proposal would open up the Farm Credit System to fishing businesses, if more than fifty percent of the business’s revenue comes from the fishing industry.
Additionally, the three proposals would expand access to the Farm Credit System to beginner and disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The House Proposal and Senate Majority Proposal would simplify eligibility requirements for farm ownership loans by “allowing people who have one year of farming experience or have an established relationship with a mentor” to be eligible for farm ownership loans. Additionally, the House Proposal would establish a prior approval authorization pilot program for USDA ownership loans. Lastly, the Senate Majority Proposal would “remove the restriction on new Farm Service Agency direct or guaranteed loans for applicants who have received debt forgiveness or restructuring of a farm loan when at least seven years has passed.”
Further, the three proposals would amend provisions in the Farm Bill related to commercial lenders. The three proposals would “authorize Farm Credit institutions to partner with community banks and other lenders to finance essential community facilities” in rural areas, such as healthcare facilities, community centers, and emergency services. Additionally, the House Proposal would expand access to the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, also known as Farmer Mac and the Secondary Market, for some guaranteed energy loans.
Lastly, the Senate Majority Proposal would expand eligibility for state agricultural mediation programs. USDA administers the Certified Mediation Program, which provides grants to state entities that provide mediation services to “agricultural producers, their lenders, and others directly affected by the actions of certain USDA agencies.” The Senate Majority Proposal would expand eligibility, allowing U.S. Territories and Indian Tribes to receive these grants and increase the amount of funding each state can receive.
Title 7: Research, Extension, and Related Matters
The programs in the Research, Extension, and Related Matters title provide funding in two ways. First, the programs fund research, extension, and educational activities at land-grant universities and other entities outside of the federal government. Additionally, the programs fund research, extension, and educational activities at federal facilities, such as research conducted by scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The research and extension provisions in the three Farm Bill proposals fit into two categories – funding for the Specialty Crop Initiative and land-grant institutions.
All three proposals would increase funding for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which provides grants to federal agencies, national laboratories, research institutions including colleges and universities, and private organizations to conduct research and provide extension resources on specialty crops. Additionally, the three proposals would reserve a portion of the increased funding to create a Specialty Crop Mechanization and Automation Research and Extension Program.
Additionally, the three proposals would reauthorize funding provisions for many programs related to the three types of land-grant institutions. The three types of land-grant institutions were created by three separate statutes. The Morrill Act of 1862 apportioned federal land to each state to sell, and the proceeds from these sales were used to create fifty-seven colleges and universities. The Second Morrill Act was passed in 1890, for the purpose of providing money and requiring states to establish land-grant institutions for Black students. There are currently nineteen Historically Black Colleges and Universities (“HBCU”) in the land-grant system. In 1994, Congress passed the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act as part of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994, which designated thirty-five Native American tribally-controlled colleges and universities as land-grant institutions. Researchers at all of the land-grant institutions are eligible for a variety of grants through USDA. USDA maintains a list of high priority research areas that are eligible to receive additional funding, and each of the three proposals highlight additional areas that would be added to that list.
The three proposals would also amend some of the funding provisions specifically for the 1890 land-grant institutions. However, the amendments in each proposal are slightly different. The House Proposal would increase funding to 1890 land-grant institutions for research and extension. The Senate Majority Proposal would specifically allow funding to be used to pay graduate student tuition and fees. The Senate Minority Proposal would permanently authorize the 1890s Scholarship Program, which awards scholarships to students at the 1890 land-grant institutions. Additionally, there are currently six Centers of Excellence at HBCUs. According to The National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the goal of the Centers of Excellence is to “increase profitability and rural prosperity in underserved farming communities; address critical needs for enhanced international training and development; and increase diversity in the science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics pipeline.” The House Proposal would add two Centers of Excellence and the Senate Majority Proposal would add four.
Conclusion
The House Proposal passed out of the Agriculture Committee and will now move to the House floor for consideration. The Senate Majority and Minority Proposals are simply frameworks and neither group has released full bill text. The Farm Bill process will unfold over the next several months as we get closer to the expiration of the extension of the 2018 Farm Bill.
To read the first two articles in the 2024 Farm Bill series, click here and here.
For more NALC resources on the Farm Bill, click here.