The House GOP stopgap funding bill to keep the government funded after September 30th lacks a one-year farm bill extension. The must-pass continuing budget resolution extends government funding through next March, including USDA feeding, Ag credit insurance, rural housing, and livestock mandatory reporting.

But the stopgap, likely to be voted on this week, does not, as some predicted, include a one-year farm bill extension, giving Ag lawmakers more time this Congress to nail down an elusive farm bill. American Farm Bureau’s Joe Gilson spoke to the possibility of lame-duck action without an earlier deal.

“That looks more likely that we’d have to get something done in the lame duck. And that could come, in terms of, if they want to just kick it to the next Congress, an extension, or if there’s strong support for a five-year farm bill, there’s about a month-and-a-half to get something done in the lame-duck.”

Gilson had expected lawmakers to hold out on another extension until the lame duck, given the bigger funding priorities this month.

“I know they want to get the appropriations done with so that we’re not at risk of a shutdown at the end of September.”

Lawmakers concluded they’d run out of time to bridge House-Senate differences over full-year spending bills, leaving them the only option of extending current spending. The fight now is for how long. Democrats and some Republicans fear March 28th is too long, impeding early spending decisions by the next president.

Some USDA farm programs like dairy supports would also need action earlier. But even if a new farm bill with higher crop supports could be passed in a lame duck, funding for it wouldn’t come sooner than fiscal 2026.