The farm bill process can now ramp up with the release of the Congressional Budget Office baseline numbers. An analysis by the House Agriculture Committee indicates spending for commodity programs will decline 12 percent from the 2018 farm bill. Mandatory spending for federal crop insurance is forecast to increase 26 percent; conservation expenditures will go up 19 percent. Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn ‘G.T.’ Thompson responded to the CBO report, saying farm policies need to be updated to address record high input costs and volatile markets.
