Cotton Gearing Up for the 2023 Farm Bill
June 13, 2022 Here’s a sobering fact: 151 members of the House of Representatives and 23 senators have never voted on a farm bill. Preliminary discussions and learning sessions for the 2023 Farm Bill have begun, but a number of questions and potential obstacles remain ahead over the next year and a half.
Reece Langley, Vice President of Washington Operations for the National Cotton Council, recently joined the Cotton Companion podcast to discuss what’s already being done and what’s ahead for the legislation.
What’s happening now?
“Between farm bills, the National Cotton Council and our colleagues and other ag organizations try to do a lot of education with members of Congress and their staffs about the importance of the farm bill and ag policy for our industry. Once we get through the mid-term elections this fall, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re looking at north of 200 members of Congress who have never voted on a farm bill. So, there’s still a lot of education work to be done.”
Any programs or priorities likely to be included in the next farm bill?
“As we look at some of the areas that both ag committees have focused on in the past year, climate will most likely be looked at within the context of the conservation title and existing working lands programs to see what can be done to provide more enhancements and flexibility to address some of the carbon and climate initiatives. As a result of the pandemic, some of the nutrition and feeding programs that may have been highlighted from the policy side will need to be looked at within the nutrition title of the next farm bill. And in the commodity area, where input costs have outpaced higher prices, does there need to be a way to help ensure or protect margins for producers rather than trying to set support levels based on prices or revenues? That’s something that’s going to be looked at more closely.”
What are cotton’s priorities?
“We do feel very fortunate with where we are in the current farm bill and the seed cotton program. It’s working very well, along with maintaining a functioning marketing loan program which is so important to our industry. In terms of any adjustments or improvements, there are some things that need to be looked at and considered within the context of the farm bill. As an industry, we’re still pretty early in our policy process, which we expect will take most of this year and maybe even into early next year.”
Any chance the current farm bill could be extended?
“We certainly could be looking at an extension of some length. If we look ahead at what could be the primary deterrent, it’ll be the political environment and who’s in control of the House and Senate and therefore leading the ag committees. Second, what will the conditions be in terms of the ag economy early next year relative to current support levels? And, what’s the federal budget situation and the level of funding that is or isn’t going to be available for the farm bill. It will be a fairly aggressive timeline to be able to get a final farm bill approved and signed into law by the end of 2023.”
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