	Status of FY2018 Agriculture Appropriations

Congress passed the FY2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act on March 23, 2018 ( H.R. 1625 ). Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees had reported Agriculture appropriations bills for FY2018 ( H.R. 3268 , S. 1603 ). The House also had passed a consolidated bill that included agriculture ( H.R. The full Senate did not consider the Agriculture appropriations bill on the floor. New, higher budget caps in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-123 ) facilitated the final appropriation. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Department of Health and Human Services. The bill includes mandatory and discretionary spending, but the discretionary amounts are the primary focus during the bill's development. Within the discretionary total, the largest discretionary spending items are for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); rural development; agricultural research; FDA; foreign food aid and trade; farm assistance program salaries and loans; food safety inspection; conservation; and animal and plant health programs ( Figure 2 ). The main mandatory spending items are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, and other food and nutrition act programs), child nutrition (school lunch and related programs), crop insurance, and farm commodity and conservation programs paid through USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). As the beginning of the fiscal year neared without many floor-passed appropriations bills, the House passed on September 14, 2017, an eight-bill consolidated appropriation ( H.R. 3354 ) with Agriculture as Division B. The discretionary total of the Agriculture portion (Division A) is $23.3 billion, an increase of $2.1 billion above the enacted amount in FY2017 (+10%, on a comparable basis that includes CFTC; Table 2 ). The appropriations also carry nearly $123 billion of mandatory spending, though that total is largely determined in separate authorizing laws. Thus, the overall total of the enacted FY2018 Agriculture appropriation is about $146 billion ( Figure 2 ). Compared to FY2017, the enacted appropriation increases spending primarily through an extra $1.38 billion in General Provisions, for programs that receive funding elsewhere in the appropriation. The General Provisions also provide an extra $116 million for Food for Peace foreign food aid, and $94 million for opioid enforcement and surveillance at FDA ( Table 3 ). It also increases the base amount for Food for Peace by $134 million to $1.6 billion. Unlike the practice from more than the past decade, the FY2018 Agriculture appropriation does not impose as many changes to mandatory program spending (CHIMPS), such as to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program, or rescissions to the Rural Development cushion of credit account or to Section 32. Action on Agriculture Appropriations
The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except for the Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and—in even-numbered fiscal years—the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Agriculture appropriations include both mandatory and discretionary spending. Discretionary amounts, though, are the primary focus during the bill's development, since mandatory amounts are generally set by authorizing laws such as the farm bill.
The largest discretionary spending items are the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); agricultural research; FDA; rural development; foreign food aid and trade; farm assistance programs; food safety inspection; conservation; and animal and plant health programs. The main mandatory spending items are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), child nutrition, crop insurance, and the farm commodity and conservation programs paid by the Commodity Credit Corporation.
Congress passed the FY2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act on March 23, 2018 (H.R. 1625). The discretionary total of the FY2018 Agriculture appropriation (Division A) is $23.3 billion. This is an increase of $2.1 billion above the amount enacted in FY2017 (+10%). The appropriations also carry nearly $123 billion of mandatory spending, though that amount is largely determined in separate authorizing laws. Thus, the overall total of the enacted FY2018 Agriculture appropriation is about $146 billion.
Compared to FY2017, the enacted appropriation increases spending primarily through an extra $1.38 billion in General Provisions, including an additional $500 million for rural water programs, $600 million for rural broadband, $116 million for Food for Peace foreign food aid, and $94 million for opioid enforcement and surveillance.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act also increases regular funding for agricultural research by $138 million, and Food for Peace by $134 million. Unlike the past decade, the FY2018 Agriculture appropriation does not include as many changes to mandatory program spending (CHIMPS), such as to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees reported Agriculture appropriations bills in July 2017 (H.R. 3268, S. 1603). As the beginning of the fiscal year approached, the House passed a consolidated bill in September 2017 that included an agriculture appropriation (Division B of H.R. 3354). The full Senate did not consider an agriculture appropriations bill on the floor.
The government continued to operate for the first six months of the fiscal year under continuing resolutions (CRs). The last CR, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123), also enacted supplemental appropriations that included agricultural assistance, amended certain farm bill statutes, and passed new, higher budget caps that facilitated the final appropriation.