OMAHA (DTN) -- The House of Representatives on Thursday passed its newest version of the farm bill in a 224-200 vote without including provisions to allow for year-round E15 sales.
The vote came after lawmakers also voted to strip provisions from the bill that would have benefited the pesticide industry.
After a contentious day on Wednesday driven primarily by Republican divisions on E15, lawmakers began debating amendments to the bill essentially overnight. The House then came back Thursday morning to vote on several amendments and pass the bill. Fourteen Democrats sided with 209 Republicans to pass the bill.
The farm bill now advances to the Senate, which will need to either take up the House version of the bill or draft its own version. The Senate will need a bipartisan 60-vote majority to pass.
On E15, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., hammered the majority for its failure to include the provision in the bill. Yet, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., said House leaders agreed to hold a vote on E15 on May 13. Craig questioned the "gentleman's agreement," saying GOP leaders have a history of making separate promises to different people.
"I would just caution colleagues on the other side of the aisle who believe that there is a deal to get E15 to the floor that there are some antics and tricks related to going back to the Rules Committee that folks may be planning," Craig said.
Ethanol groups again expressed their dismay over the delay on an E15 vote after months of work on the legislation. "As skyrocketing gas prices persist in the U.S., it's mind-blowing that Congress continues to let a small handful of refiners hold hostage legislation that simply allows retailers to sell lower-cost E15," said Brian Jennings, CEO of the American Coalition for Ethanol. "ACE will keep helping our bipartisan champions in Congress find a path forward."
PESTICIDE PROVISIONS STRIPPED
The crop inputs industry took a loss as an amendment led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., saw three provisions stripped that would have asserted that only EPA can require warning labels for pesticides and blocked states and localities from imposing restrictions on "the sale, distribution, labeling, application or use" of pesticides approved by EPA. All three provisions were stripped from the bill in a 280-142 vote with 73 Republicans joining 209 Democrats to remove the language.
The pesticide provisions ran parallel to the debate facing the U.S. Supreme Court in a glyphosate case regarding whether states can impose other labeling requirements or restrictions beyond those spelled out by EPA. The High Court heard arguments on the case on Monday.
The pesticide provisions also had drawn the ire of a key constituency for the Trump administration -- the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) moms.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., called it a "Huge win for states rights and MAHA! The special provision for pesticides (and herbicides like glyphosate) was just stripped from the farm bill by an overwhelming majority!"
The Modern Ag Alliance, a group led by Bayer to protect the use of glyphosate, said Congress betrayed farmers with the vote.
"Today, the House turned its back on the farmers who feed, fuel, and clothe this country," said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the alliance. "By gutting common-sense crop protection provisions from the farm bill, lawmakers caved to anti-science MAHA activists instead of standing with those who grow our food. The result is a patchwork of state rules that will raise costs, cut yields, and increase grocery prices. Farmers asked for certainty; Congress delivered chaos. This vote will raise grocery prices at dinner tables across the country -- and be remembered at the ballot box."
ANIMAL ID TAGS
R-CALF USA and supporters in Congress suffered a significant defeat when it comes to mandatory electronic ID tags.
Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., had an amendment that would repeal and prohibit the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) from mandating electronic identification tags for cattle and bison. Currently, APHIS requires breeding animals, and all dairy cattle, to have electronic tags when moving across state lines.
The amendment overwhelmingly failed in a 69-355 vote on the House floor.
FARM EQUIPMENT EMISSIONS
Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., won a close vote, 215-213, that would strip some EPA emission requirements from farm machinery. In a speech on the House floor, Spartz noted Brazil doesn't have such requirements and equipment manufacturers are basically running separate operating lines to provide machinery for South American farmers then putting emissions equipment on U.S. machinery, raising costs and complicating the operation of that equipment as well.
The vote follows some moves by EPA to roll back requirements for diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) emission requirements.
ROTISSERIE CHICKEN
People who receive food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) saw significant support from lawmakers to buy hot rotisserie chicken. An amendment led by Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., was backed 384-35. USDA had granted Arkansas a waiver to specifically allow the sale of rotisserie chicken under SNAP. If it survives, that waiver would now be nationwide.
SOME PROVISIONS IN THE BILL
The bill doesn't address most commodity programs because those were expanded with higher reference prices under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.
In the credit title, the bill would increase loan limits for guaranteed operating loans to $3 million and guaranteed ownership loans to $3.5 million. Direct ownership loans would be increased to $850,000, while direct operating loans would be increased to $750,000. The bill also includes provisions meant to speed up approval times, especially for certified and preferred guaranteed lenders.
In conservation, the bill reauthorizes the Conservation Reserve Program and keeps the cap on acres at 27 million.
The bill also addresses state laws requiring standard living conditions for animals providing meat and eggs, such as California's Proposition 12, by saying states and localities cannot require living conditions outside their jurisdiction.
See, "Democrat: Republicans Canceling REAP Grants Hurt GOP's Own Farmers," https://www.dtnpf.com/…
Also see, "New Farm Bill Expands Disaster Programs, Increases Guaranteed Operating Loan Limits, Tweaks Dairy Policy," https://www.dtnpf.com/…
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