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| Last Thursday, USRPA Chief Operating Officer Mollie Buckler, accompanied by USRPA Washington, D.C. representative Cornerstone Government Affairs, visited Capitol Hill to continue to encourage action on a rice producer-friendly farm bill. Buckler and Cornerstone Government Affairs staff met with senior Republican and Democratic staff on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, as well as the offices of House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), Representative Mark Alford (R-MO), and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO).Conversations largely focused on the farm bill’s fate this year and its likelihood of passing in the calendar year. Buckler also gave updates on USRPA market promotion activities, including its utilization of Regional Agricultural Promotional Program funding, and emphasized the need for additional funding in the Market Access and Foreign Market Development Programs. Here’s a closer look at the Farm Bill’s status: House Farm Bill OutlookHouse Republicans are continuing to work on a path forward in the House. The House Committee on Agriculture reported version of the 2024 farm bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, is still beset with funding controversies. Unfortunately, given the need to improve the farm safety net, the source of funding for farm bill improvements is still unresolved. Senate Agriculture Committee LeadershipSenior staff for Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Republican John Boozman (R-AR) were generous with their time for in-depth discussions about rice policy in the pending farm bill. While both of these leaders have published summaries of their farm bill proposals, neither has introduced the specific bill language that could be used to enact the new policies. Chairwoman Stabenow’s proposal would make several major changes to the commodity, crop insurance, and other programs that support rice producers. On the positive side, the Stabenow proposal is to increase the statutory reference price for rice by 5 percent above the current level (from $14.00 per cwt. to $14.70 per cwt.). However, the proposal would also impose a “payment band” based on 20 percent of the effective reference price. In practice, this payment band would limit Price Loss Coverage payments only down to a rice price of approximately $11.76 per cwt. If rice prices fell below this level the PLC program would provide no further support to rice producers. In addition, the Stabenow proposal would restrict PLC and ARC payments from being made on land owned by an individual or entity for which the average adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds $700,000. This would be a 22 percent reduction in the current law's $900,000 AGI limit. In addition, this new prohibition would prohibit any payments from being made on acreage owned by a person or entity above the AGI limit – even if the land is cash or share rented to a producer with an AGI below $700,000. As a result, the proposed new, reduced farm program AGI limits would place producers in the position of vetting their landlords’ AGI, or risk losing PLC payments on any acreage that they rent. Committee staff could not provide any Congressional Budget Office scores or other analysis showing what the combined impact would be on rice producers from these new restrictions—the PLC payment band, the reduced AGI limit, and the reduction in support available for rented acreage. Ranking Republican John Boozman’s framework for Title I farm bill Commodity programs, by contrast, would increase the PLC statutory reference prices for Title I commodities (including rice) by an average of 15 percent. Rather than reducing the AGI limitations and restricting eligible acreage, the Boozman framework proposes to provide inflation-adjusted payment limitations in the future and take steps to ensure equitable treatment for all farms, including LLCs. While specific legislative language for the Boozman framework is also yet to be released, by all indications it would be expected to provide net positive benefits to rice producers. When specific bill language for both Senate proposals is made available rice producers will be able to measure up the expected benefits and costs imposed on rice producers by the various bills. Next Steps for the Farm Bill? At this juncture, the outlook from the Senate is that any formal movement on a farm bill is unlikely until at least September following the August congressional recess. It remains to be seen whether the next step takes the form of another one-year extension, a complete farm bill rushed through during the November and December “lame duck,” or a punt into 2025. Whatever course the farm bill takes, USRPA will be in the mix pushing for the best product possible for our rice producers. |
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