As we have noted over the past few months (see here and here), there is growing pressure to complete a farm bill in advance of the 2025 crop year and to provide economic assistance for 2024 losses given the low levels of support being provided by the current farm bill extension. Hurricanes Helene and Milton have also resulted in renewed calls for natural disaster assistance for the 2023 and 2024 crop years.
While work continues behind the scenes on the farm bill – with no clear indication of the path forward – economic assistance for 2024 losses is starting to take shape. Most of the chatter concerns the significant collapse in commodity prices over the past two years coupled with costs of production that have continued to remain high. That cost-price squeeze has resulted in the largest 2-year decline in crop cash receipts in history (here).
Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS) has introduced the Farmer Assistance and Revenue Mitigation Act of 2024 (The FARM Act) which would provide emergency assistance to producers of eligible commodities for which the expected revenue in crop year 2024 is below the projected per-acre cost of production. Acres planted or prevented from being planted in 2024 to the following crops would be eligible for assistance: barley, corn, cotton, dry peas, grain sorghum, lentils, large chickpeas, oats, peanuts, rice, small chickpeas, soybeans, other oilseeds, and wheat. FARM Act payments are calculated as follows: [READ MORE]