Every marathon starts with a first step. That’s true of federal policymaking, too, and last month we saw Congress take a major step toward passing the next farm bill.

After 12 hours of debate and discussion, members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee on May 24 advanced their draft of the farm bill on a narrowly bipartisan vote. Text of the bill was led by the committee’s chair, U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Penn, and other GOP members.

While this draft legislation is not perfect, we appreciate that the process to deliver Illinois farmers a multi-year farm bill is moving forward. As you’ll remember, the extension of the 2018 Farm Bill passed by Congress last fall expires on Sept. 30.

The bill advanced by the House Ag Committee, titled the “Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024,” does contain provisions aligning with some of Illinois Farm Bureau’s farm bill priorities.

Specifically, the draft bill provides farmers with necessary risk management tools and contains policies supporting the next generation of farmers, opportunities to expand current conservation practices and investments in trade development.

This bill further addresses the needs of rural communities and interstate commerce concerns for Illinois livestock producers by including a fix for California’s Proposition 12.

THANK YOU to the more than 60 county Farm Bureaus who signed onto the AFBF and NPPC letter to Thompson and Ag Committee Ranking Member David Scott, D-Georgia. We used the letter to urge Congress to address Prop 12 in the upcoming farm bill and ask that any farm bill reauthorization provides certainty to producers and protects their investments from a 50-state compliance patchwork.

It's unclear when the full House may vote on the farm bill as the Senate Agriculture Committee must still mark-up its version of the legislation before the two chambers can enter conference negotiations and put forward a single bill for floor votes.

IFB’s National Legislative Team is actively communicating about the bill with Thompson and House Ag Committee staff, as well as our elected officials and the five members representing Illinois on House Ag. In these conversations on both sides of the aisle, we continue to emphasize the importance of passing a bipartisan, five-year farm bill this year.

This process can be long and challenging, but it is essential to remain engaged with our members of Congress and ensure the needs of Illinois agriculture are addressed in the farm bill.