Competing visions of how USDA funding can help rural America

As the hurdles approach the 2024 presidential election, voters are demanding more information about what politics might look like under Democratic nominee Kamala Harris or Republican nominee Donald Trump.

When it comes to agricultural policy, experts predict it could follow two very different paths depending on the election results: more tariffs and subsidies for big farmers under Trump, or climate investments and expanded crop insurance under Harris. Daily Tam. reports.

To get an idea of ​​what might happen under Trump’s second administration, there are clues from his first presidency. As for the Harris administration, the question is to what extent the new Democratic president will continue the policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Trump’s tariffs and subsidies

Early in his term, former President Trump withdrew from a 2016 U.S. free trade agreement that would have lowered trade barriers for domestic producers. Shortly thereafter, Trump invoked a series of tariffs on imports from almost every other country in the world. Many countries responded by imposing their own tariffs on American products.

This ultimately led to a trade dispute with China that resulted in high tariffs being imposed on agricultural products, particularly soybeans and pork products.

To support farmers who have lost business with global consumers, Trump approved $14.5 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Market Facilitation Program to provide payments to farmers affected by “unjustified foreign retaliatory tariffs.”

He also gave the green light for use Commodity Credit Corporationa credit program that the USDA can use to pay farmers without requiring funding from Congress.

“It’s more like an entitlement program,” said Jonathan Coppess, a policy professor at the University of Illinois and former administrator of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency.

“So you can register and be eligible for payment and then the owners just pay off the loan, basically pay off the credit card,” he said.

This provided USDA with a lot of flexibility, but combined with the market facilitation program and payments farmers already received from programs under the 2018 Farm Bill, Coppess found that some of the payments were made to the same people – many of whom run the business on a large scale. operations that do not require additional money.

This is an issue that goes back much further than the Trump administration. Large-scale federal support for agriculture was first implemented in the 1930s to protect farmers from unstable markets caused by tariffs, natural disasters, or economic recession. However, in recent decades, most of this spending has gone to the largest and richest farms.

“They receive not only a disproportionate amount of income, but also a disproportionate amount of safety net,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an interview with the Daily Yonder.

Biden’s rural policy goes beyond agriculture

Vilsack said the Biden administration is trying to find a way to direct more federal resources to smaller farms. Millions of dollars are available through American Rescue Plan Act expanding small farm operations and supporting farmers markets and community-supported agriculture initiatives. The Act on reducing inflation contributed $19.5 billion to USDA environmental programs that encourage climate-smart agriculture.

President Biden has invested more broadly in rural communities through policies such as: Bipartisan infrastructure lawwhich finances, among other things, broadband infrastructure, modernization of wastewater and drinking water treatment systems, and the development of roads and bridges.

The Biden administration also inherited Trump’s coronavirus food aid program, which provided that $19 billion in aid for farmers and ranchers at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Biden administration expanded now defunct program in 2021.

But Biden’s time in the White House has also been defined by drawn-out farm bill negotiations, which have been delayed for almost a year.

Farm Bill headache

The Farm Bill goes far beyond supporting individual farmers. For example, it funds food stamps and rural development needs such as sewage and drinking water. The bill is reauthorized by Congress every five years, but it often takes longer to approve it.

This is what happened with the 2023 Farm Bill. Fierce partisan debate over how much money to spend on what programs has hampered negotiations, and nearly a year after the 2018 farm bill expired, a new five-year farm bill still hasn’t passed, even with proposals from both the House and Senate.

“I really think that among rural farmers, the fact that they can’t pass the 2023 farm bill shows tremendous dysfunction and reluctance to come to the negotiating table,” said Joe Maxwell, co-founder of Farm Action and former lieutenant governor of Missouri. “Both sides will just get stronger.”

Maxwell said this dysfunction could increase public frustration with politics, especially as the 2024 presidential election approaches.

2025 and beyond

Agriculture experts predict two very different realities for agricultural policy depending on the results of this election.

Another Trump administration would likely impose more tariffs on China. It could also provide larger subsidies to the largest farms, according to Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group.

He worries about what farm bill proposals from Republicans Glenn Thompson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and John Boozman, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, will mean for small farmers.

“In particular, the House bill sets out a roadmap for Republicans if they were to take control of the entire Congress and the White House,” Faber said. The proposed law will raise benchmark prices of just a few agricultural products, such as peanuts, rice and cotton. This means these farmers are guaranteed payment through the USDA Coverage of price loss program if the market value of these products falls below the reference price. However, it ignores many other commercial farmers, especially those running smaller operations.

Critics fear that large farms would double the number of different subsidy programs if the House’s proposed farm bill is passed. “The increase in farm subsidies would be the largest in over a generation, even though the number of farm bankruptcies is at its lowest level in 20 years,” Faber said.

And the Democrats’ farm bill proposal, introduced by Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, would include investments in climate-friendly agriculture created under the Inflation Reduction Act into the new farm bill.

It would also expand access to crop insurance, which has been difficult for many farmers to obtain due to high premium costs. Stabenow’s proposal yes increase federal support for farmers’ premium spending and making access to higher levels of coverage more affordable.

While Congress is the primary force behind agricultural policy, the president can direct that power along specific paths.

For four years, President Biden has steered Congress toward climate action and rural investment. Secretary Vilsack expressed confidence that Vice President Harris is aware of the steps taken by the Biden Administration.

He also said Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has repeated some of these agricultural policies as Minnesota governor, which could mean they will be prioritized at the federal level if Harris and Walz are elected to the White House in November.

“I’m sure they understand the importance (of investing in small farmers), and that’s based on my current experience with them,” Vilsack said.

This story was produced by Daily Tam. and verified and distributed by Stacker.