The House and Senate have agreed to commence conference negotiations on the 2018 Farm Bill to resolve the differences between their bills. This is the next step toward completing a new farm bill before the current farm bill expires on September 30.

The House appointed 47 members while the Senate appointed nine members. The conferees are from the Senate and House agriculture committees, along with members from several other committees that claim jurisdiction over specific aspects of the bill.

IDFA will be closely working with conferees to ensure that the association’s priority issues are resolved favorably in the conference report.

Regarding IDFA’s priorities, the House and Senate must resolve their differences on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) milk purchase incentive program and reforms to the Margin Protection Program. IDFA’s other priority, changing the Class I mover from the “higher of” to the simple average of Class III and IV (plus $.74) was included in both bills.

For more information contact Dave Carlin, senior vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy, at dcarlin@idfa.org.