Budget Impacts U.S. Farm Bill

House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders and staffs of both parties are furiously rewriting the U.S. Farm Bill in the remaining legislative weeks of this year. But the Farm Bill reauthorization is not due for another year. What’s up?

Writing a Farm Bill in a matter of weeks is an extremely ambitious goal. Since the first Farm Bill in 1965, nothing like what’s going on now has been attempted. Typically, scores of congressional hearings are followed by protracted committee mark-up sessions co…