AEI Addressed Farm Bill, SAF
The prospects for Congress approving a new farm bill in 2024 have apparently become so dim they are almost invisible, says the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). When passing a new farm bill in 2023 became infeasible, Congress extended the provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill through the end of the 2024 fiscal year. Many lawmakers and commenters are now suggesting that a new bill may well not be approved until members of the 119th Congress have begun their work in 2025.
Nevertheless, AEI say farm interest groups have continued to push for increased subsidies to farm income safety-net programs by raising support prices that would trigger more frequent and larger payments, ideally as soon as possible. They have received strong support for this policy change from Republican members of the House and Senate agriculture committees, who have been unable to identify viable funding sources for the increases in the context of a new farm bill.
The group notes that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has suggested he could use his discretionary authority over surplus Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds to increase those subsidies. Vilsack has stated he would talk to lawmakers about this. Vincent H. Smith, Joshua Sewell, and Eric J. Belasco open the first issue of AEI’s Seasonal Harvest by asking whether Vilsack’s suggestion is an appropriate use of administrative discretion and whether Congress should rein back the secretary’s authority to disburse unspent CCC moneys to programs often targeted to gain farm votes in federal election years.
As for biofuel policy, AEI’s Andrew Swanson and Aaron Smith examine the potential impacts on land use for crop production if the Biden administration used biofuels to reach its goal of producing three billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030. They estimate that meeting the goal by increasing ethanol production would require feedstock from about 10 million acres of corn. However, meeting the SAF goal by increasing soy-based biodiesel production would require feedstock from about 40 million acres of soybeans. Given the likely impacts on land use and crop prices, Swanson and Smith ask whether SAF produced using either crop will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation fuel.
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