EAST PEORIA, Ill. — It was only fitting that a group of around 95 farmers were gathered with a full staff of University of Illinois (U of I) farm economists and analysts during the 2024 Farm Economics Summit when news broke that a $10 billion, ad hoc relief package for farmers was approved by House Republicans as part of a must-pass, three month government spending bill. Facing another year without a farm bill, agriculture leaders had been engaging the government to provide financial relief for farmers struggling against below-breakeven prices for crops via continuing resolution. 

“There is some breaking news: the GOP have said they are going to kick funding the government to March 14 and they have come to an agreement with $100 billion in disaster aid contained in it — $10 billion, which is about half of what was projected (in the FARM Act) for U.S. farmers, would be for agriculture. We’re not yet sure how that would be divided among different commodities for crops. In addition, the (2018) Farm Bill will be extended by one year. Finally, there would be nationwide E15 year-round,” said U of I Extension farm broadcaster Todd Gleason, who emceed the December 17 panel of economic advisors. 

News of the continuing resolution quickly changed the focus of the Farm Economic Summit to one of hopeful expectation, causing the economists on site to quickly consider the ramifications of the aid package on the farm economy and their presentations. However, the excitement would be short lived; just one day later news broke that there was strong opposition to certain Democrat-led aspects of the spending package from the incoming Trump administration.

News sources reported that Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have asked legislators to support aid for farmers and natural disaster victims while extending the suspension of the debt ceiling, which is set to expire early next year. As of press time, the House was scrambling to quickly patch together a new proposal to fund the government and avert a shutdown. 

According to U of I economist Jonathan Coppess, who has served as a farm bill advisor, the $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers contained in the funding package would propel U.S. agriculture into an “era of maximum uncertainty.” Prophetically, Coppess warned that the uncertainty extended to what the final spending package would entail at passage, and how the ad hoc relief component would affect farm bill negotiations. 

“This (proposed relief) alters our perceptions, understanding and expectations of how the (farm bill) policy negotiations will roll out,” he said. “It’s changing our expectations of how these things work. At the very least, this type of ad hoc economic assistance is sending a signal that our policies as enacted in Congress are not working.”

The proposed $10 billion for agriculture is less than half of the $21 billion requested as part of the FARM Act, an ad hoc economic assistance proposal introduced by the House in October. As for the $10 billion being offered, Coppess advised “I still wouldn’t bank on it.”

Illinois Corn Growers Association Executive Director Rod Weinzierl, who was in attendance at the 2024 FES, noted that year-round E15 was included in the bill largely due to the work of Illinois Democratic Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, along with Republican Sen. Debbie Fischer of Nebraska. Weinzierl shared Coppess’ concern that the ad hoc assistance offered by House Republicans would, while needed desperately by many farmers, serve to cloud farm bill negotiations over the issue of crop insurance payments. He also worries about the divide between the House and Senate over slashing funding for the Nutrition Title and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in order to support an increase in crop insurance baseline payment levels for certain commodities. 

“These things will take a lot of oxygen out of the farm bill, and I would say right now the odds are very low for getting a farm bill in 2025. Maybe in 2026, depending on how 2025 goes. But if we cut that much (funding) in SNAP it’s really going to be hard to get a bipartisan farm bill in the near term,” Weinzierl said. 

At press time, the continuing resolution to fund the government through March 14 and provide $10 billion in ad hoc financial assistance for farmers was still stalled in the House. Congress appeared to be barreling towards a shutdown, which would have occurred at the end of Friday, December 20.