House Committee Passes 2018 Farm Bill

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... In a statement, House Ranking Member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., criticized the legislation, calling it “a flawed bill that is the result of a bad nontransparent process.” Cuts to Energy Title programs are among the specific provisions of the bill that Peterson criticized. “…$500 million from the Rural Energy for America Program was eliminated as well as killing the energy title,” he said in a statement.

A summary of the bill released by the committee on April 18 shows Subtitle E of the legislation includes reauthorizations and discretionary funding for several Energy Title programs.

The Agriculture Energy Coalition is urging members of Congress to enact a farm bill that not only reauthorizes Energy Title programs, but also provides them with mandatory funding. “The House Agriculture Committee has a long history of working in a bipartisan manner to support farmers, ranchers, foresters and rural businesses,” said Lloyd Ritter, director of the Agriculture Energy Coalition. “There is strong bipartisan support for the renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in the farm bill, which have a demonstrated record of success in boosting the economic health of rural communities.

“The Agriculture Energy Coalition greatly appreciates the support expressed by members of the Committee to keep the energy title intact, to further improve the programs, to provide the farm bill energy programs strong mandatory funding, and to continue incentivizing new biobased innovations and technologies—aspects that are lacking in the draft proposal,” Ritter continued. “The coalition’s members look forward to working with Congress to pass a farm bill that reauthorizes the energy title programs with appropriate mandatory funding.” READ MORE

Excerpts from Environmental and Energy Study Institute: ... Additionally, a handful of Democrats drew attention to the elimination of the Energy Title in the Bill, as well as the minority’s issues with changes to the Conservation title and other areas. Ranking member Peterson (D-MN) stated, “Even if we could miraculously fix the nutrition title, members still have other issues with the bill.” So as not to promote the potential success of a partisan bill, Democrats offered no amendments. Republicans attached 18 amendments to the legislation en bloc.

The attitude displayed within the majority was largely -- get it done, and quickly. With net farm income down a staggering 50 percent in just six years, it’s understandable. But Democrats warned that the bill needed to be right, in addition to fast. Farm groups’ reaction to the bill was mixed, with groups like the National Corn Growers and Farm Bureau praising the bill, while smaller groups like the National Farmers Union, National Young Farmers Coalition and Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance expressed reservations over numerous programmatic changes as well as funding levels. Farmers Union has been the most outspoken on the bill’s funding levels, with President Roger Johnson stating, “This bill is wholly inadequate for providing family farmers with the resources they need to endure the worst decline in the farm economy in decades.”

Accepted Republican amendments range from requirements for rural broadband projects, tweaks to conservation programs, prioritizing algae agriculture and gene edited crop research, as well as changes to the process in which items are added to the national list of approved and prohibited substances for organic farming.

The bill now heads to the House floor, where it faces stiff opposition from Democrats and potentially the Freedom Caucus – for very different reasons. It remains to be seen whether or not Chairman Conaway and House leadership have enough votes to pass a GOP-only bill. All eyes now turn to the Senate, where Senate Agriculture Chairman Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Stabenow (D-MI) state they remain committed to crafting a bipartisan bill. Farm Bill watchers are now anticipating a May markup. READ MORE

Excerpt from Algae Biomass Organization: An amendment from Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL-2nd) establishing a USDA Algae Research Program has been adopted in H.R. 2, the comprehensive 5-year Farm Bill just approved by the House Agriculture Committee in a party-line vote.

If enacted, this provision would provide a major boost to investment in research and development of algae as a sustainable source of food and feed, biofuels and biomaterials, and as a solution for carbon capture, soil health, nutrient management, and other on-farm applications.

A big thank you to Rep. Dunn, as well as to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway for including the amendment in his package of recommended bill amendments. READ MORE