Farm bill fight may slash climate funds

TL/DR –

Negotiations to secure billions of dollars for farmland conservation from the Biden administration’s climate law in the 2018 farm bill are facing difficulty in Congress. House Democrats are facing resistance from House Republican leadership to transfer up to $14.5 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into the farm bill extension. The top Republican on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, John Boozman, has indicated a shift in priorities towards providing economic relief to farmers facing falling incomes and high operational costs, instead of focusing on conservation.

Farm Bill negotiations stumble amid efforts to safeguard climate law’s conservation funds

Discussions over protecting billions of dollars allocated for farmland conservation in the Biden administration’s climate law suffered a setback on Thursday, as Congress grappled with renewing the 2018 farm bill.

Despite offering concessions, Democratic staff in the House have met with substantial resistance from House Republican leadership in their bid to shift up to $14.5 billion of conservation funds from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into the farm bill extension.

Insiders suggest a growing possibility that the increase in conservation aid provided by the Inflation Reduction Act might simply disappear next year. This is as incoming Republican leadership and the Trump administration plan to reverse the Inflation Reduction Act and cut expenses. In this scenario, a fresh farm bill would proceed without the Inflation Reduction Act funding, marking a significant breakaway from the bill passed by the Republican-controlled Agriculture Committee in May.

In a shift of priorities, John Boozman of Arkansas, the leading Republican on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, stated on Thursday that his focus leans more towards delivering immediate economic aid to farmers. These farmers have been grappling with reduced incomes and elevated operational costs for the past two years.

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