One day after the U.S. Senate voted in approval of the 2018 farm bill, the House of Representatives gave it its blessing as well.
The House, on December 12, passed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 by a 369-47 vote. The Senate approved it by a vote of 87-13.
The bill rapidly advanced since it moved out of the conference committee and the text of the bill was released on December 10. With House and Senate approval, the 2018 farm bill, which has the approval of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, awaits a signature from President Donald Trump.
“Today’s passage of the 2018 farm bill by the House of Representatives, and the Senate’s approval yesterday, is welcome news to America’s farmers and ranchers and the consumers who depend on them for our food, fiber and energy crops,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a statement. “Passage means we are one signature away from renewal of risk management tools, foreign market development and environmental stewardship programs that farmers and ranchers need to survive a prolonged and painful downturn in farm income and be sustainable.”
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, praised House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and Ranking Member Collin Peterson, D-Minnesota, for their efforts in getting the legislation approved in the House. Roberts and Stabenow issued the following statement: “This swift legislative action taken by both chambers represents our commitment to provide certainty and predictability to farmers, families, and rural America. We look forward to having this good bill signed into law.”
One thing that this version of the farm bill lacks that a previous version included was the Protect Interstate Commerce Act (PICA), also known as the King amendment. The provision, introduced by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, called for the end of laws such as California’s just-approved Proposition 12 on the basis that such laws allow one state to regulate agriculture production practices in other states, which King says is unconstitutional. Proposition 12 calls for the end of cages in egg production in California, as well as the sale of eggs produced elsewhere that use cages.
