Mar. 10—Congressman Frank Lucas is back on the House Agriculture Committee that is going to be hard at work over the coming months drafting a new Farm Bill, to replace legislation set to expire Oct. 1.

The current Farm Bill has been in effect since 2018, and was a reauthorization of the 2014 Farm Bill, which was enacted when Lucas was chairman of the Ag Committee, Lucas said in an interview with the News & Eagle.

From 1933 to 1996, farm legislation based on supply management, such as quotas, allotments and limitations on what could be raised. He said from 1996 to 2014, the U.S. operated under the Freedom to Farm Bill, which provided a direct payment annually based on production history that could be used however the recipient saw fit. By 2014, even though it was a strong economic policy, Lucas said, it wasn’t politically sustainable.

Lucas said when he was committee chairman, he had to put together something entirely different for what he terms the “third-generation Farm Bill.” He said principles of insurance were used to provide a safety net, so if crop insurance for weather were taken out, there would be the potential to protect prices. He said in the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, the difference between those bills and older ones, participation was optional.

If a new Farm Bill is not passed, the 2018 Farm Bill begins to expire Oct. 1, and Lucas said not everything shuts off at once, as the programs are based on the crop year. He said he predicts a new Farm Bill will be agreed upon, although he can’t guarantee it.

“It has to be passed, or extended, but it has to stay in place,” Lucas said. “The Farm Bill is a five-year document, and if it were to ever completely expire, we go back to something called permanent law, which goes back to farm bills passed in the 1930s and 1940s. If we are successful in putting together the next Farm Bill, and it’s still based on the principles of the 2014 and 2018 bill, I would like to repeal the old antiquated language from the ‘ 30s and ‘ 40s and make what would become the 2023 Farm Bill permanent law, so if there ever came a time in the future through some kind of political gyration or craziness in Congress, that we couldn’t pass a Farm Bill, we’d still have the basic Farm Bill we work under now.”

Farm legislation is comprehensive, Lucas said, and includes many different aspects of providing for the future of American agriculture.

“The Farm Bill is about making sure that you can raise the food and fiber you need in this country;” Lucas said, “that you do it in a way that is environmentally friendly with soil, water and air conservation; that the resources are there so that producers can live in the country; and credit, the tools that are necessary to finance all this stuff, as well as research to keep us moving forward in a more efficient fashion.”

With the legislative process determined by the political environment, Lucas is optimistic there are plenty of reasons to believe the new Farm Bill will be passed, as there are numerous incentives across the political landscape.

“You’ve got a president running for re-election. Presidents who are running for re-election like to sign farm bills, because they are good for the country side, they’re good for producers and they’re good for consumers,” Lucas said. “So if we can get a bill to the White House, Joe Biden has a big incentive to sign it. From the Senate perspective, Sen. John Boozman, who is the ranking member on Ag Committee, since the Republicans are in the minority, the ranking Republican on the Ag Committee, is from Arkansas.

“Agriculture there is similar in many ways to Oklahoma, so he’s got an incentive. The Democratic chairwoman of the Ag Committee is from Michigan, Sen. Debbie Stabenow. She was chairwoman of the Senate Ag Committee when I was chairman of House Ag Committee when we did the 2014 Farm Bill. She’s announced that she’s not running for re-election in 2024, so this is her final big piece of legislation. So, she has an incentive to get it done while she’s still chairwoman.”

With the exact budget for the Farm Bill not yet known, Lucas said it is up to see what the president, House and Senate ultimately decide together.

“If we have enough resources to make up for the dramatic increase in the cost of production, I think the Farm Bill process will be fairly orderly,” Lucas said. “We’ll take the 2018 bill, make adjustments, and instead of 2023, it will say 2028 and we’ll move forward.”

With the 2023 Farm Bill benefitting rural states such as Oklahoma, Lucas said, the state is a strong representative of agriculture in the United States.

“There are lots of places in the state that have oil and gas, or like Enid, have military facilities or manufacturing, or big urban areas,” Lucas said. “But agriculture, production agriculture, is in every one of the 77 counties. It is everywhere in Oklahoma. No matter where you go — there are farms in Tulsa County and farms in Oklahoma County. It is the core economic base of the state, so protecting it is just as important as protecting Vance Air Force Base, or making sure that the oil and gas industry can still be prosperous.”