Lawmakers scramble to reach last-minute deal to save farm bill

House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-Pa.) is meeting with congressional leaders on agricultural policy Thursday to try to secure a last-minute deal on passing the farm bill.

Earlier Thursday, Thompson joined dozens of House Republicans in pressing Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to schedule a vote on the massive, five-year legislation before the end of the year.

In addition to Thompson, the group meeting Thursday included House Agriculture Committee ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.), Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member John Boozman (R-Ark.).

Thompson told The Hill this week that getting a deal in the lame-duck session isn’t “highly likely, but I’m an eternal optimist, and I’m going to work hard every day to make that happen.”

The farm bill is set to expire Monday, Sept. 30, though funds will not begin to peter out until the end of the year.

Progress toward a deal has been hamstrung by divisions between the parties over how to pay for increased subsidies to large commercial growers and proposed restrictions on the ability of the federal government to raise money for food aid.

While the House Agriculture Committee has marked up and passed a draft bill, the Senate Agriculture Committee has only released a summary.

While some lawmakers — including Boozman — have suggested the idea of another stopgap one-year bill, this idea is unpopular in the farm sector, which has come to rely on the structure of the five-year farm bill, and has had to limp along on a one-year continuing resolution since last year’s failure to replace the 2018 farm bill.

Earlier this month, representatives from more than 300 agricultural groups flew in to Washington to lobby for a quick passage of a new bill, and in Thursday’s letter, House Republicans warned that the failure to pass a full five-year package would lead to a “crisis” in farm country.

While an extension may be necessary, Thompson told The Hill he “didn’t want to send the wrong message: that we will not get a farm bill done in lame duck.”

“Our farmers need it,” he said. “I mean, we are facing, by all all metrics, a farm and food crisis that’s exacerbating and only going to get worse — unless we show some leadership and provide some hope and certainty to the hardworking families to provide us food and fiber.”

Aris Folley contributed reporting for this story.

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