Ag Industry Trends & Outlooks

The Farm Bill has been bogged down since the Fall while Congress has battled over funding the government. Given it’s an election year, Congressional leaders have acknowledged if the Farm Bill isn’t passed by mid-year, it will likely be extended for another year leaving it for the next Congress to complete. Several Farm Credit backed proposals have been introduced this Congress that would allow Farm Credit to lean into meeting the capital needs of rural America. The intent is for these “marker bills” to be included in the Farm Bill. Here is a summary of four of them.

The USDA and its partner vendors have announced the opening of the application period for Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which directs USDA to provide financial assistance to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs prior to January 2021. 

This month's Knowledge Exchange Partner covers some of the major issues that are being addressed at the Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing. The last comprehensive revision to the FMMO system occurred in 2000.

The House Ways and Means Committee recently announced The American Families and Jobs Act, which includes three bills (H.R. 3936, H.R. 3937, and H.R. 3938) that could impact farmers.