House of Representatives speaker John Boehner announced on Thursday (20th September) that the United States Farm Bill will not be passed before the November election; there had been hopes of passing the bill before current farm legislation expires at the end of the month, though this now seems highly unlikely.

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The US Farm Bill is re-examined every five years and governs food and agricultural policy in the United States, the World’s largest producer of a number of agricultural staples including maize and soybeans. The last Farm Bill was introduced in 2008 after measures agreed under the previous Bill ended in 2007.

By July this year, Bills had been passed by both the US senate and the House of Representatives’ Agriculture Committee, but aspects of their proposals are proving controversial. Speaker Boehner’s decision to wait until more reforms are agreed upon has been welcomed by many commentators in the US.

Scott Faber, government affairs spokesperson for the Environmental Working Group, cast light on the more contentious aspects of the farm bill in welcoming the Speaker’s decision. He said, “The committee proposed to increase farm welfare at a time of record farm income — and to cut programs for the poor and the environment in order to lavish new subsidies on highly profitable farm businesses. What's more, the committee's bill would have weakened consumer and environmental protections.”

The House’s proposed Bill would see billions of dollars’ worth of cuts, most of which would come from social programmes, such as spending on food stamps. Opinion on the proposals remains polarised in government, with neither party willing to compromise.  

Although the current Bill is due to come to an end on 30th September, few impacts will be felt as a result of the changeover until January at the earliest, according to the United States National Farmers’ Union. In October a final round of direct subsidy payments will be made to farmers; the subsidy programme, which distributes $5billion to farmers annually, will not be maintained under the new Bill.

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