Image courtesy Library of Congress.

This week the 2008 Farm Bill expired without a new Farm Bill to replace it. If you’re confused about what exactly this means for United States farmers and consumers then you’re in good company. At over 1,000 pages with 205 programs organized under 12 titles, the Farm Bill is a complex animal. The delayed 2012 Farm Bill (“Farm Bill”) is the latest in a long line of omnibus bills that temporarily suspend parts of the permanent 1949 Agricultural Act. Every five years when the Farm Bill expires, legislators need to pass a new one to take its place before its broad swath of agriculture, conservation, and nutrition programs are cut, leaving farmers and low income individuals out in the cold.

While this delay certainly presents challenges, don’t panic! A delayed Farm Bill doesn’t mean the end of the world for our nation’s farmers – at least not yet. The expired 2008 Farm Bill continues to fund its programs through the calendar year, so impacts won’t really be felt until 2013 when the archaic 1949 Act swings back into full force – causing wheat and dairy prices to double, the elimination of virtually all federal agricultural conservation programs, the slashing of crop insurance subsidies desperately needed this year for drought-ridden farmers, and a slew of others. Some programs would be continued through other legislation, but the effects would present major challenges nonetheless.

Nobody is looking forward to the New Year without a Farm Bill, so what’s the delay? The Farm Bill costs hundreds of billions of dollars, and lawmakers on both sides are wrestling over just how much of it to cut. Many programs are facing total elimination such as direct payments to farmers. However, the program causing the most delays for the Farm Bill is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) formerly called Food Stamps. The Senate passed a version of the Farm Bill in June cutting $4.5 billion out of SNAP funding over 10 years, while the House is debating along party lines whether to cut a whopping $16 billion out of the program. While SNAP isn’t the only program going under the knife, it’s causing the bulk of the delays.

Thought of slashed agricultural programs, or their total elimination, is troubling, but some farmers may sleep better at night remembering that the same events happen approximately every five years with each new Farm Bill. In fact, over the past few decades, only one Farm Bill was passed on time. The 2008 bill, formerly “2007”, wasn’t passed until June after numerous executive vetoes and debates over funding for Food Stamps (sound familiar?).

Although nobody is advocating returning to the 1940s, legislators can’t quite agree on how to move into 2013. Stay tuned to hear more about the Farm Bill’s progress when the House reconvenes in mid-November.