The farm bill provides an opportunity for Congress to address agricultural and food issues comprehensively about every five years.¹ Over time, farm bills have tended to become more complicated and politically sensitive. This has made the timeline for reauthorization less certain. Recent farm bills have been subject to developments that have delayed enactment, such as insufficient votes to pass the House floor, presidential vetoes, and extensions.

During the 118^th Congress in 2023, no committee markups were held to reauthorize the 2018 farm bill (the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, P.L. 115-334). The 2018 farm bill expired on September 30, 2023, and with the 2023 crop year (crops harvested in 2023).² On November 19, 2023, Congress enacted a one-year extension (P.L. 118-22, Division B, §102) of the 2018 farm bill.

On May 23, 2024, the House Agriculture Committee passed H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, by a vote of 33-21, after it had been introduced on May 21, 2024. Out of 59 amendments proposed, the committee adopted 25 amendments during markup, of which 19 were in an en bloc amendment; six other amendments were adopted by voice vote, one of which had a second-degree amendment adopted by a recorded vote.³ Four amendments failed by recorded vote. Eighteen amendments were offered and withdrawn after some discussion; 12 amendments were not offered.⁴ On November 18, 2024, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry chair introduced a farm bill, S. 5335. The Senate committee took no further action on this bill.

On December 21, 2024, Congress enacted a second one-year extension (P.L. 118-158, Division D) of the 2018 farm bill. The latest extension continues the authorizations that were in effect on September 30, 2024, as extended, until September 30, 2025, and for the 2025 crop year.

This report examines the major legislative milestones for the last 12 farm bills over 58 years, a period representing modern farm bills with growing complexity. Table 1 contains a history of major legislative action on farm bills since 1965. Figure 1 shows the major dates on a timeline.

Timelines for Enactment, Extension, and Vetoes

The shortest farm bill debate in the past six decades was related to the 1973 farm bill, which was enacted less than three months after being introduced. In contrast, the 2014 farm bill took more than 21 months from introduction to enactment, spanning two Congresses.⁵ The House initially rejected a farm bill in 2013 and then passed separate farm and nutrition assistance components—the first time a chamber-passed farm bill did not include a nutrition title since 1973. The House later procedurally recombined them for conference with the Senate.

During the last reauthorization in 2018, the legislative timeline began with markup in the House Agriculture Committee in April 2018. An initial floor vote in May failed by 198-213, but procedures allowed that vote to be reconsidered (H.Res. 905). The House passed its bill in a second vote of 213-211 in June 2018. In the Senate, the Agriculture Committee reported its bill in June 2018. The Senate passed its bill by a vote of 86-11 in June. Conference proceedings officially began in September and concluded in December 2018.

Both the 2002 and 2008 farm bills had expired for about three months (from October through December in 2007 and 2012) before extensions were enacted. In each case, like in 2023, the fiscal year began under a continuing resolution for appropriations. The extensions of the 2002 farm bill were for relatively short periods totaling about five months during final House-Senate negotiations. The extensions of the 2008 farm bill, effective in 2013, and the 2018 farm bill, effective in 2024 and 2025, were for a full year.

Parts of a farm bill are authorized for different periods of time—fiscal years, calendar years, and crop years. Programs authorized by the 2018 farm bill (P.L. 115-334), as twice extended (P.L. 118-22, Division B, §102; and P.L. 118-158, Division D, §4101), now generally expire either at the end of FY2025 (September 30, 2025) or after the 2025 crop year, which varies among crops.⁶

Figure 1. Major Legislative Actions on Farm Bills, 1965-2024

Source: Figure created by CRS using Congress.gov, http://www.congress.gov.

Timeline Relative to Fiscal Years

Enacting farm bills after the end of the final fiscal year for which programs have been authorized has been a common occurrence. In the past 42 years covering the nine farm bills since 1976—when the federal government began using a fiscal year that began on October 1⁷—only the 1977 and 2002 farm bills were enacted before the September 30 expiration date for programs that would have been affected by the fiscal year.⁸

The 1981, 1985, 1990, and 2018 farm bills were enacted within three months after the final fiscal year for which programs were authorized ended. The 1996 farm bill was enacted in April 1996 following the September 30, 1995, expiration of some of the authorizations in the 1990 farm bill.⁹ The 2008 and 2014 farm bills were enacted well after their original September 30 expirations and following the enactment of extensions.

Expiration at the end of a fiscal year (September 30) matters for programs with fiscal year authorizations. These programs include certain nutrition, conservation, and trade programs; various agricultural programs, excluding the Title I commodity programs; and many authorizations for discretionary appropriations. The consequences of expiration of a farm bill are discussed in other CRS reports.¹⁰

Timeline Relative to Calendar Years

Ten of the thirteen farm bills since 1965 were enacted before December 31 in the year of their expirations. The exceptions were extensions enacted for 2008, 2013, and 2024 because action had not been completed the previous year (see "Short-Term Extensions" below).¹¹ The 2018 farm bill was the first time since before 1965 that both chambers completed floor action before the end of June.

Expiration at the end of a calendar year matters mostly for the dairy program, one of the farm commodity programs in Title I of recent farm bills. The farm commodity programs are tied to crop years—that is, the year in which a crop is harvested—and dairy is the first commodity that would be affected by reverting to "permanent law," since its crop year begins on January 1 after the year of expiration.¹²

Timeline Relative to the Two-Year Congressional Term

Since 1965, 8 out of 12 enacted farm bills were introduced in the first session of a two-year Congress (the odd-numbered year). The other four (1970, 1990, 2014, and 2018) were introduced in the second session of a two-year Congress (the even-numbered year).¹³

Of the four farm bills introduced in a second session, three (the 1970, 1990, and 2018 farm bills) were enacted during a lame duck Congress (after an election) in November and December of the same year. The 2014 farm bill, which was introduced in 2012, was the first farm bill to start in one Congress, remain unfinished, and require reintroduction in a subsequent Congress.

House or Senate Action First

There is no rule dictating which chamber initiates farm bill action. Since 1965, the Senate was first to mark up farm bills in 1973, 1977, 1981, 2012, and 2013. The House was first to mark up bills in 1965, 1970, 1985, 1990, 1995 (and 1996), 2001, 2007, 2018, and 2024.

Short-Term Extensions

Extensions of a prior farm bill while its successor is being written had been atypical but are now common in three of the past four reauthorizations (extensions during 2008, 2013, 2024, and 2024). Historically, only the 2002, 2008, and 2018 farm bills have required extensions.

When the 2002 farm bill expired, portions of it were extended six times for less than a year total beginning in December 2007 (Figure 1, Table 1).¹⁴

When the 2008 farm bill expired, the entire farm bill was extended in January 2013 for all of FY2013 and the 2013 crop year.¹⁵

While the 2014 farm bill was technically expired from October 1 until the 2018 farm bill was enacted in February 2018, a continuing resolution for appropriations continued many operations, though some new program activity had ceased.¹⁶ No extension was required.

In 2023, because no markups or floor action occurred to reauthorize the farm bill, Congress enacted a one-year extension in November 2023. A second one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill became necessary at the end of the 118^th Congress.

Presidential Vetoes

Presidential vetoes of farm bills are not common. Since 1965, only the 2008 farm bill has been vetoed as stand-alone measure; it was vetoed twice. A 1995 farm bill was vetoed as part of a larger budget reconciliation package.

President George W. Bush vetoed the 2008 farm bill (H.R. 2419). When Congress overrode the veto to enact P.L. 110-234, it accidentally enrolled the law without Title III (the trade title). Congress immediately reintroduced the same bill with the trade title (H.R. 6124). President Bush vetoed this version as well, and Congress again overrode the veto to enact P.L. 110-246, a complete 2008 farm bill that included the trade title. The overrides in 2008 were the only time that a farm bill was enacted as a result of a veto override.

President Clinton vetoed a 1995 budget reconciliation package that included the first version of what became the 1996 farm bill, but the veto was not due to the farm bill itself but rather the controversial nature of the reconciliation bill in which the farm bill was embedded.

Prior to 1965, the first veto of a farm bill was in 1956, when President Eisenhower vetoed H.R. 12 (84^th Congress), the first version of the Agricultural Act of 1956.

Implications for Congress

Farm bill reauthorization has tended to become more complex and engender greater political sensitivity. The process of enacting a new farm bill prior to the expiration of the existing law has become more difficult. As stakeholders in the farm bill have become more diverse, more people are affected by the legislative uncertainty around the farm bill process. This lack of certainty may compound questions about the availability of future program benefits.