Page 34 - Farm Bill Series_The 7 Things You Should Know

By Phillip Brasher

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2017 – Development of a new farm bill usually starts with discussions
of needs and wants, and evolves into costs.

Figuring out the farm bill “math” is not for the faint of heart. Agricultural economists spend
countless hours making the programmatic goals work within a certain set of parameters – largely
dictated by Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections.

And that doesn’t count all of the internal “scores” that staff members produce – trying to work
out the kinks and find solutions before CBO issues an “official” score for members to consider.

And then there’s also the political math behind that farm bill “wish list” – producing a bill that
attracts 218 votes in the House and a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate.

How does one make sense of it all?
If recent history is any guide, farmers,
ranchers, sportsmen, conservationists, and
anyone else who would like to see more
money spent on food and agricultural policy
could be in a tough spot when lawmakers sit
down to write the next farm bill.

Already, there are pent-up demands in the
search for more money to help grain, oilseed
and cotton farmers who believe they were
shortchanged by the 2014 farm bill. Cotton
growers alone have appealed,
unsuccessfully, to receive new USDA
assistance that could cost up to $1 billion over 10 years.

Conservationists and sportsmen’s groups would like more federal dollars for protecting land,
water and wildlife resources. And a series of small programs that support growth in small-scale
farming, organic production and local and regional food markets will simply run out of money
after the current farm law expires in 2018 – unless more funds can be found.

And that’s where the farm bill “math” gets even more complicated.

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