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Forty percent of farmers surveyed think a farm bill will be passed this year

As Congress continues to debate the 2023 Farm Bill, farmers surveyed in the latest Ag Economy Barometer weighed in on when the legislation could be signed into law.

Jim Mintert is the survey’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.

“Forty percent of the people in the survey said they think it’s either somewhat likely or very likely that we’ll see passage of a new farm bill in 2023,” he says. “On the flip side, 29 percent think it’s either somewhat unlikely or very unlikely. So, it’s a little bit up in the air there with respect to passage. That reflects what I detect when I talk to producers as well.” 

When asked what the most important title or aspect of a new farm bill is, answers varied.

“Forty percent of the people in the survey chose crop insurance as the most important Farm Bill title. Thirty-one percent said commodity programs. That’s kind of interesting given what’s taking place with respect to prices here recently. It will be interesting to see if that changes in the upcoming survey. A lot of the commodity groups have been pushing for an improvement or an increase, for example, in reference prices in the 2018 Farm Bill and in a new version. There’s been some pushback from some other groups so it’s going to be interesting to see how that shakes out.”

Thirteen percent of farmers surveyed said conservation titles were the most important. The research and extension and renewable energy funding titles were each chosen by eight percent of respondents.

Mintert says they’ll ask about the farm bill again in the upcoming survey.  

“To get a firmer grip on what people are thinking and see whether or not that changes,” he says.

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer is a monthly national survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers.

Audio: Jim Mintert