The farm bill is an omnibus, multi-year law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. The farm bill is renewed about every five years. The Agricultural Act of 2014 ( P.L. It was enacted in February 2014 and expires mostly in 2018. It succeeded the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 ( P.L. The 2014 farm bill contains 12 titles encompassing commodity price and income supports, farm credit, trade, agricultural conservation, research, rural development, energy, and foreign and domestic food programs, among other programs. Provisions in the 2014 farm bill reshaped the structure of farm commodity support, expanded crop insurance coverage, consolidated conservation programs, reauthorized and revised nutrition assistance, and extended authority to appropriate funds for many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) discretionary programs through FY2018. When the current farm bill was enacted in February 2014, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the total cost of mandatory programs would be $489 billion for the 12-title farm bill over the five years FY2014-FY2018. Four titles accounted for 99% of anticipated farm bill mandatory outlays: nutrition, crop insurance, conservation, and farm commodity support. The nutrition title, which includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), comprised 80% of the total. The remaining 20% was mostly geared toward agricultural production across several other titles ( Table 1 ). In the years since enactment of the farm bill, CBO has updated its projections of government spending several times a year based on new information about the economy and program participation. Outlays for FY2014-FY2016 have become final (actual), estimates are available for FY2017, and updated projections for FY2018 have generally reflected lower farm commodity prices and lower costs for SNAP. The new five-year estimated cost of the 2014 farm bill, as of April 2018, is $455 billion for the four largest titles, compared with $484 billion for those same four titles four years ago (right side of Table 1 ). This is $28 billion less than what was projected at enactment (-6%). The result of these new projections is that SNAP outlays are projected to be $26 billion less for the five-year period FY2014-FY2018 than was expected in February 2014 (-7%). Crop insurance is projected to be $10 billion less for the five-year period (-25%) and conservation programs about $5 billion less (-19%). In contrast, farm commodity and disaster program payments are projected to be about $13 billion higher than was expected at enactment (+55%) due to lower commodity market prices (which raises counter-cyclical payments) and higher livestock payments due to disasters.
The farm bill is an omnibus, multi-year law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. Titles in the most recent farm bill encompassed farm commodity price and income supports, agricultural conservation, farm credit, trade, research, rural development, bioenergy, foreign food aid, and domestic nutrition assistance. Because it is renewed about every five years, the farm bill provides a predictable opportunity for policymakers to comprehensively and periodically address agricultural and food issues.
The most recent farm bill—the Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79; 2014 farm bill)—was enacted into law in February 2014 and expires in 2018. It succeeded the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. Provisions in the 2014 farm bill reshaped the structure of farm commodity support, expanded crop insurance coverage, consolidated conservation programs, reauthorized and revised nutrition assistance, and extended authority to appropriate funds for many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) discretionary programs through FY2018.
When the 2014 farm bill was enacted, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the total cost of mandatory programs would be $489 billion over the five years FY2014-FY2018. Four titles accounted for 99% ($483.8 billion) of anticipated farm bill mandatory program outlays: nutrition, crop insurance, conservation, and farm commodity support. The nutrition title, which includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), comprised 80% of the total. The remaining 20% was mostly geared toward agricultural production across several other titles.
CBO has updated its projections of government spending based on new information about the economy and program participation. Outlays for FY2014 to FY2017 are completed, and updated projections for FY2018 have generally reflected lower-than-expected farm commodity prices in the near term and lower-than-expected participation in SNAP. The new five-year estimated cost of the 2014 farm bill, as of April 2018, is now $455 billion for the four largest titles, compared with $484 billion for those same four titles four years ago. This is $28 billion less than what was projected at enactment.
SNAP outlays are projected to be $26 billion less for the five-year period FY2014-FY2018 than was expected in February 2014. Crop insurance is projected to be $10 billion less for the five-year period and conservation about $5 billion less. In contrast, farm commodity and disaster program payments are projected to be about $13 billion higher than was expected at enactment due to lower commodity market prices (which raises counter-cyclical payments) and higher livestock payments due to disasters.