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The farm bill is critical to the success of America’s farmers. It must be renewed every five years, and it provides farmers with a safety net to survive difficult times. 

Despite its importance, the farm bill expired in September 2023. Congress passed a one-year extension, but that too has now expired.

You don’t need to look very far to see how the investments from the farm bill have paid off in protecting America’s food supply. We’re not far removed from the COVID pandemic, when supply chain disruptions and restaurant shutdowns meant some farmers couldn’t get the food they grew to America’s families. 

Add to that more than $21 billion in crop and rangeland losses from drought, wildfires, hurricanes and flooding in 2022 alone and you start to realize the risks farmers take to grow the food we all rely on. Without the safety net the farm bill provides, many family farms wouldn’t be able to survive those disasters.

The farm bill also invests in the future through conservation programs. Farmers have already enrolled tens of millions of acres in voluntary conservation programs. 

Furthermore, agriculture represents just 10 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, far lower than transportation and energy, and much lower than the agriculture sector worldwide. These advances are made possible, in part, because programs in the farm bill recognize farmers as partners and invest in their effort to care for the land. 

The farm bill doesn’t only benefit the 2 million farm families in America. It touches every dinner table in every home in the United States. Americans spend the lowest percentage of their income on food than any other nation, and that is made possible, in part, through the farm bill. 

The bill spells out programs that help farmers survive the hard times brought on by natural disasters and economic downturns, which is in the best interest of all of us who like to eat. And many people would be surprised to learn that roughly 80 percent of the bill’s funding goes to nutrition programs that ensure millions of families facing hard times don’t go hungry. 

The need for assistance programs is real. USDA estimates in 2021 that more than 33 million people in America faced food insecurity. More than 12% of households with children need nutrition assistance. We are a nation that’s been blessed with the ability and the means to feed all of its people.

Lawmakers have an opportunity to update programs through a new, modernized farm bill and renew their commitment to ensuring America’s families continue to have access to a safe, affordable and abundant food supply.

The farm bill is too important to be kicked down the road again. The House Agriculture Committee drafted its version, and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders have released outlines and priorities. Congress must build on this momentum. 

The farm bill has been a shining example of bipartisanship in the past, an issue where both sides have put aside their differences to work for the common good of the nation. They can do it again. Every family in America is counting on it.

Zippy Duvall is the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. He is a third-generation farmer from Georgia where he raises beef cattle and chickens and grows hay.

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