Farm Bill

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Year after year of drought and intense heat that have cooked crops in Texas also have fueled a clash between USDA and the crop insurance industry that has spilled over into discussions of a new farm bill.

Lawmakers return this week for the remainder of their lame duck session, facing a to-do list that includes passing a farm bill extension and averting a government shutdown. Also, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy head to Capitol Hill, and a Senate committee puts a focus on FDA and its role in combatting obesity.. 

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., has joined the race to lead Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee. 

California Rep. Jim Costa is challenging David Scott of Georgia to lead Democrats on the House Ag Committee in the next Congress. Costa says some committee members urged him to consider the move.

Leaders of the House and Senate Ag committees are in active discussions about putting elements of a farm bill in an end-of-the year aid package, including possible new funding for commodity programs as well as crop insurance reimbursements.

House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson is ready to move another extension of the 2018 farm bill, acknowledging to reporters Monday evening that lawmakers are unlikely to consider the measure in the lame duck session. “We’re prepared for an extension,” Thompson said. 

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., released the text of her draft farm bill on Monday with just weeks remaining in this Congress. The bill would limit the Trump administration's ability to use the Commodity Credit Corporation to compensate farmers for the impact of a new trade war.

Lawmakers are stepping up their work this week on a package of disaster aid and relief for commodity price declines as they head toward having to pass another extension of the 2018 farm bill. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Xochitl Torres Small is scheduled to testify at a Senate hearing on disaster aid needs. 

Melissa Koshlaychuck has joined Western Growers as a California government affairs analyst. G. Rey Reinhardt was named president of the J.R. Simplot Co. AgriBusiness Group. Rod Snyder, former top agricultural adviser at EPA, has launched his own consulting firm.

Congressional Republicans are likely to move quickly to carry out President-elect Donald Trump’s top legislative priority by extending expiring tax provisions and enacting new tax cuts, and some farm bill measures could go along for the ride.