History and the 2024 House Farm Bill

The House Agriculture Committee advanced its version of the 2024 Farm Bill reauthorization, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, on May 24, 2024 (Farm Policy News, May 24, 2024; Wicks, Alvey, and Brasher, May 24, 2024; Yarrow and Brown, May 28, 2024). A thin veil of bipartisanship after the midnight hour—four Democrats voted with 29 Republicans to report the bill 33 to 21—provides little cover for the troubled legislation, which is unlikely to be considered on the House floor in this election year. Analysis on the specific changes to law proposed in the legislation continues, but this article steps back in search of historical and political perspective on the challenges consuming recent Farm Bill reauthorizations (see e.g., farmdoc daily, May 29, 2024; May 21, 2024).