T he farm bill provides an opportunity for Congress to address agricultural and food issues comprehensively about every five years. Over time, farm bills have tended to become more complicated and politically sensitive. This has made the timeline for reauthorization less certain. Recent farm bills have been subject to developments that have delayed enactment, such as insufficient votes to pass the House floor, presidential vetoes, and short-term extensions. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-334 ), often called the "2018 farm bill," was enacted on December 20, 2018. In the House, the Agriculture Committee reported the bill on April 18, 2018. An initial floor vote on May 18 failed by 198-213, but procedures allowed that vote to be reconsidered ( H.Res. 905 ). The House passed H.R. 2 in a second vote of 213-211 on June 21. In the Senate, the Agriculture Committee reported its bill ( S. 3042 ) on June 13, 2018, by a vote of 20-1. The Senate passed its bill as an amendment to H.R. 2 by a vote of 86-11 on June 28. Conference proceedings officially began September 5 and concluded on December 10. In contrast, the 2014 farm bill took more than 21 months from introduction to enactment, spanning two Congresses. This report examines the major legislative milestones for the last 12 farm bills over 54 years, a period representing modern farm bills with growing complexity. Timeline Relative to the Two-Year Congressional Term

Since 1965, 8 out of 12 enacted farm bills were introduced in the first session of a two-year Congress (the odd-numbered year). Of the four bills introduced in a second session, the 1970, 1990, and 2018 farm bills were enacted during a lame duck Congress (after an election) in November and December of the same year. The 2014 farm bill, which was introduced in 2012, was the first farm bill to start in one Congress, remain unfinished, and require reintroduction in a subsequent Congress. President George W. Bush vetoed the 2008 farm bill ( H.R. The overrides in 2008 were the only time that a farm bill was enacted as a result of a veto override.
The farm bill provides an opportunity for Congress to address agricultural and food issues comprehensively about every five years. Over time, farm bills have tended to become more complicated and politically sensitive. As a result, the timeline for reauthorization has become less certain. With the exception of the 2018 farm bill, recent farm bills have taken longer to enact than in previous decades. Beginning in 2008, farm bills have been subject to various developments that have delayed enactment, such as insufficient votes to pass the House floor, presidential vetoes, or short-term extensions.
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334), often called the "2018 farm bill," was enacted on December 20, 2018. In the House, the Agriculture Committee reported the bill on April 18, 2018. An initial floor vote on May 18 failed in the House 198-213, but floor procedures allowed that vote to be reconsidered (H.Res. 905). The House passed H.R. 2 in a second vote of 213-211 on June 21. In the Senate, the Agriculture Committee reported its bill (S. 3042) on June 13, 2018, by a vote of 20-1. The Senate passed its bill as an amendment to H.R. 2 by a vote of 86-11 on June 28. Conference proceedings officially began on September 5, 2018, and concluded in December with a Senate vote of 87-13 and a House vote of 369-47 (H.Rept. 115-1072).
The 2018 farm bill took 8 months from introduction to passage. By comparison, the 2014 farm bill took more than 21 months from introduction to enactment, and spanned the 112th and 113th Congresses. The 2008 farm bill took more than a year to enact and was complicated by revenue provisions from another committee of jurisdiction, temporary extensions, and vetoes.
Most farm bills have been introduced in the first session of a two-year Congress (the odd-numbered year). Three of the farm bills that were introduced in the second session—the 1970, 1990, and 2018 farm bills—were enacted during a lame duck Congress of the same year. The 2014 farm bill was the first farm bill to start in one Congress (2012), remain unfinished, and require reintroduction in a subsequent Congress.
This report examines the major legislative milestones for the last 12 farm bills covering 54 years.