Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2018 Appropriations
Released: 2018-03-23T00:00:00

Status of FY2018 Agriculture Appropriations

Congress passed the FY2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act on March 23, 2018 ( H.R. 1625 ). Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees had reported Agriculture appropriations bills for FY2018 ( H.R. 3268 , S. 1603 ). The House also had passed a consolidated bill that included agriculture ( H.R. 3354 ). The full Senate did not consider the Agriculture appropriations bill on the floor. New, higher budget caps in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-123 ) facilitated the final appropriation.

Specifically, the House Appropriations Committee passed H.R. 3268 on July 12, 2017, and the Senate Appropriations C ommittee passed S. 1603 on July 20, 2017. On September 14, the House passed an eight-bill consolidated appropriation, H.R. 3354 , with the Agriculture bill as Division B that included amendments to the House-reported version ( Table 1 , Figure 1 , Appendix B ).

The discretionary total of the enacted Agriculture appropriation is $23.3 billion, which is $2.1 billion more than enacted in FY2017 (+10%), on a comparable basis that includes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC; Table 2 ). The Administration had proposed a $15.8 billion discretionary total (a reduction of 25%), the House-passed bill $20 billion, and the Senate-reported bill $20.53 billion.

The appropriations also carry mandatory spending—though that is largely determined in separate authorizing laws—that total nearly $123 billion. Thus, the overall total of the enacted FY2018 Agriculture appropriation is $146 billion.

The Trump Administration released its full FY2018 budget request on May 23, 2017, along with the detailed justification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Scope of Agriculture Appropriations

The Agriculture appropriations bill—formally known as the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act—funds all of USDA, excluding the U.S. Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Department of Health and Human Services. In even-numbered fiscal years, the act carries CFTC funding under a practice started in FY2008 for handling House-Senate jurisdictional differences.

Jurisdiction is with the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations and their respective Subcommittees on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. The bill includes mandatory and discretionary spending, but the discretionary amounts are the primary focus during the bill's development. The scope of the bill is shown in Figure 2 .

The federal budget process treats discretionary and mandatory spending differently.

Discretionary spending is controlled by annual appropriations acts and receives most of the attention during the appropriations process. The annual budget resolution process sets spending limits for discretionary appropriations. Agency operations (salaries and expenses) and many grant programs are discretionary. Mandatory spending —though carried in the appropriation and usually advanced unchanged—is controlled by budget rules (e.g., PAYGO) during the authorization process. Spending for so-called entitlement programs is set in laws such as the 2014 farm bill and 2010 child nutrition reauthorizations.

In FY2018 Agriculture appropriations, discretionary appropriations were 16% ($23.3 billion) of the total. Mandatory spending carried in the act comprised $123 billion, about 84% of the $146 billion total. About $99 billion of the $123 billion mandatory amount could be attributed to programs in the 2014 farm bill ( Figure 2 ). Other programs are not in the authorizing jurisdiction of the Agriculture Committees.

Within the discretionary total, the largest discretionary spending items are for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); rural development; agricultural research; FDA; foreign food aid and trade; farm assistance program salaries and loans; food safety inspection; conservation; and animal and plant health programs ( Figure 2 ).

The main mandatory spending items are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, and other food and nutrition act programs), child nutrition (school lunch and related programs), crop insurance, and farm commodity and conservation programs paid through USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). SNAP is referred to as an "appropriated entitlement" and requires an annual appropriation. Amounts for the nutrition program are based on projected spending needs. In contrast, the CCC operates on a line of credit. The annual appropriation provides funding to reimburse the Treasury for using this line of credit.

Recent Trends in Agriculture Appropriations

Over time, changes by title of the Agriculture appropriations bill have generally been proportionate to changes in the bill's total discretionary limit, though some activities have sustained relative increases and decreases. Agriculture appropriations peaked in FY2010, declined through FY2013, and since then have increased ( Figure 3 ). Comparisons to historical benchmarks, though, may depend on adjustments for inflation and other factors ( Figure 4 ).

The stacked bars in Figure 3 represent the discretionary spending that was authorized for each appropriations title since FY2008. Prior to FY2018 enactment, the total of the positive stacked bars is the budget authority contained in Titles I-VI. It was higher than the official discretionary spending allocation for the subcommittee (the line) because of the budgetary offset from negative amounts in Title VII general provisions and other scorekeeping adjustments. General provisions were net negative mostly because of rescissions and limits placed on mandatory programs.

Action on FY2018 Appropriations

Administration's Budget Request

Like most new Administrations, the Trump Administration released its FY2018 budget request in 2017 later than the usually expected first week of February. It released an outline (sometimes called a "skinny budget") on March 16, 2017, that expressed intentions primarily at the Cabinet level. For USDA, it proposed a 21% reduction, including eliminating funding for some programs.

The Administration's budget outline overlapped with Congress finishing FY2017 appropriations. On May 5, 2017, the explanatory statement for the FY2017 appropriation ( P.L. 115-31 ) addressed the direction of the new request for FY2018 by reminding the Administration of Congress's role:

USDA and FDA should be mindful of Congressional authority to determine and set final funding levels for fiscal year 2018. Therefore, the agencies should not presuppose program funding outcomes and prematurely initiate action to redirect staffing prior to knowing final outcomes on fiscal year 2018 program funding.

On May 23, 2017, the Administration released its full FY2018 budget request. USDA concurrently released its full budget summary and justification, as did the FDA. Some OMB proposals were not consistent with the USDA request. As an independent agency, CFTC requested a different amount in its budget justification than the Administration requested.

For Agriculture appropriations (including CFTC), the Trump Administration requested $15.82 billion of discretionary spending, $5.3 billion less than in FY2017 (-25%; Table 2 , Figure 3 ).

From these documents, the congressional appropriations committees evaluated the request and began to consider their own bills in the summer of 2017.

House Action

At the time the House appropriations subcommittees began marking up their FY2018 bills, an FY2018 budget resolution had not yet been adopted. Therefore, the House Appropriations Committee incrementally made "302(b)" allocations to its subcommittees to facilitate markups beginning in June 2017. The Agriculture Subcommittee was allowed nearly $20 billion of discretionary budget authority for FY2018.

The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its FY2018 bill on June 28, 2017, by voice vote. On July 12, 2017, the full Appropriations Committee passed and reported an amended bill ( H.R. 3268 , H.Rept. 115-232 ) by voice vote ( Table 1 , Figure 1 ).

As the beginning of the fiscal year neared without many floor-passed appropriations bills, the House passed on September 14, 2017, an eight-bill consolidated appropriation ( H.R. 3354 ) with Agriculture as Division B. It included several budget-neutral amendments to the reported version.

The $20 billion discretionary total in the House-passed FY2018 Agriculture appropriation ( Table 2 , Figure 3 ) was officially $1.13 billion less than enacted in FY2017 (-5.3%, on a comparable basis that adds CFTC back to the FY2017 Agriculture appropriation's total).

Compared to FY2017, the House-passed bill would have achieved this reduction primarily by reducing rural development by $262 million, nutrition assistance by $220 million, farm and conservation programs by $199 million, department administration by $123 million, and research by $98 million, among other changes. Table 3 provides details at the agency level.

Senate Action

In the absence of an adopted FY2018 budget resolution, the Senate Appropriations Committee made 302(b) allocations to its subcommittees in July 2017, similar to the House approach. The Agriculture Subcommittee was allowed $20.53 billion of discretionary authority for FY2018.

The Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its FY2018 bill on July 18, 2017, by voice vote. Two days later, the full Appropriations Committee passed and reported its amended bill ( S. 1603 , S.Rept. 115-131 ) on July 20, 2017, by a vote of 31-0 ( Table 1 , Figure 1 ).

The discretionary total of the Senate-reported bill was $20.53 billion ( Table 2 , Figure 3 ), which was $352 million less than enacted in FY2017 without CFTC (-1.7%). The Senate-reported bill would have provided $776 million more than the House-passed bill on a comparable basis without the CFTC.

The Senate-reported bill would have made fewer and smaller reductions compared to FY2017 than the House-passed bill. Compared to FY2017, it would have reduced rural development by $119 million and agricultural research by $57 million and increased foreign food aid by $140 million, providing more for each of these program areas than the House-passed bill ( Table 3 ). It would also have made $220 million more in reductions—through rescissions and changing mandatory programs—than the House-passed bill.

Continuing Resolutions

FY2018 began on October 1, 2017, without an enacted appropriation. As a result, Congress has passed CRs to continue to fund the government. In general, a CR continues the funding rate and other provisions of the previous year's appropriation. However, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) prorates funding to the agencies on an annualized basis for the duration of the CR through a process known as apportionment. CRs may also provide a different amount through anomalies or make specific administrative changes.

1. The first CR for FY2018 (Division D of P.L. 115-56 ) lasted until December 8, 2017. It continued FY2017 funding levels and provisions with two general exceptions and two anomalies for the agriculture appropriation: A 0.6791% across-the-board reduction (Section 101(b)). Sufficient funding to maintain mandatory program levels, including for nutrition programs (Section 111). An increase of about $2 million for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, a domestic food assistance program that predominantly serves the low-income elderly. Rather than the FY2017 funding level of $236 million, the CR provides about $238 million for this program. This anomaly is typically included to maintain caseload and participation based on food costs (Section 116). A technical correction for the computation of a rescission to Section 32 funds in light of the availability that is allowed for carryover funds, especially for disaster payments that are at the discretion of the USDA (Section 117). 2. A second CR ( P.L. 115-90 ) extended the provisions and anomalies of the first CR to December 22, 2017. 3. A third CR ( P.L. 115-96 ) extended the CR to January 19, 2018. It also waived PAYGO rules (Section 5002) for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ( P.L. 115-97 ) that could have caused a sequestration of mandatory spending as an automatic budgetary offset, which could have affected the farm bill budget. 4. In the absence of a further CR or appropriation by January 19, a three-day government shutdown occurred through January 22, when a fourth CR ( P.L. 115-120 ) extended the CR to February 8, 2018. 5. In the absence of a further CR or appropriation by February 8, an overnight government shutdown occurred during the early morning of February 9, when a fifth CR ( P.L. 115-123 ) extended the CR to March 23, 2018. This CR was part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 that raised the budget caps for discretionary spending in FY2018 and FY2019, provided disaster assistance for agriculture, amended several farm bill provisions, and extended sequestration effects.

Supplemental Appropriations and the Bipartisan Budget Act

On February 9, 2018, Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA; P.L. 115-123 ), which broadly authorized supplemental appropriations, including for crop and livestock losses from 2017 hurricanes and wildfires (Division B, Subdivision 1, Title I). The act also included a six-week CR through March 23, 2018 (Division B, Subdivision 3). Importantly for the anticipated farm bill reauthorization, the BBA revised several agriculture programs, which had long-term policy implications because it changed farm bill statutes (Division B, Section 20101; and Division F) and added mandatory spending authority. Perhaps most importantly for completing the FY2018 appropriation, it raised the discretionary spending caps (Division C, Title I) that are in statute from the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25 ).

Supplemental Appropriation

In supplemental appropriations, the BBA added $3.6 billion of disaster assistance in FY2018. Specifically, it provided $2.36 billion of block grants to the states for losses from 2017 hurricanes and wildfires. It added $941 million for conservation and watershed recovery, $165 million for rural water and wastewater recovery, and $89 million for disasters in six other USDA accounts.

Changes to the Farm Bill

For the expected successor to the current farm bill, the BBA added $1.4 billion of mandatory funding to the 10-year baseline. Specifically, it added $1.1 billion for dairy programs, $240 million for permanent disaster assistance programs, and a $62 million net addition for cotton. The cotton addition is nearly $3 billion from adding seed cotton to the farm commodity programs, offset by about $2.9 billion in reductions from reallocating base acres and crop insurance. A version of these changes was in the Senate appropriations markup, Section 728 of S. 1603 .

The BBA offsets some of these additions by extending sequestration on mandatory accounts under the BCA ( Appendix A ) for two more years, for FY2026 and FY2027, at an estimated future effect on agriculture accounts of $2.6 billion.

Discretionary Budget Caps

Raising the budget caps for overall discretionary spending—that were set by the BCA—facilitated the development of a final full-year appropriation for FY2018. A majority in Congress desired greater spending for at least some of the appropriations subcommittees. For FY2018, the BBA raised the nondefense discretionary cap by $63 billion from $516 billion to $579 billion and for defense by $80 billion from $549 billion to $629 billion. For FY2019, it raised the nondefense discretionary cap by $68 billion and the defense cap by $85 billion.

Consolidated Appropriations Act

On March 23, 2018, Congress passed the FY2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act ( H.R. 1625 ). The discretionary total of the Agriculture portion (Division A) is $23.3 billion, an increase of $2.1 billion above the enacted amount in FY2017 (+10%, on a comparable basis that includes CFTC; Table 2 ). The discretionary total is higher than in either the House-passed or Senate-reported bills, as became possible under the BBA, and is nearly as high as the peak in Agriculture appropriations in FY2010 ( Figure 3 ).

The appropriations also carry nearly $123 billion of mandatory spending, though that total is largely determined in separate authorizing laws. Thus, the overall total of the enacted FY2018 Agriculture appropriation is about $146 billion ( Figure 2 ).

Compared to FY2017, the enacted appropriation increases spending primarily through an extra $1.38 billion in General Provisions, for programs that receive funding elsewhere in the appropriation. Amounts in General Provisions may not be as likely to become part of the annual base for those programs. For example, in addition to amounts for the Rural Utilities Service elsewhere in the Act, the General Provisions provide an additional $500 million for rural water programs, and $600 million for expanding rural broadband. The General Provisions also provide an extra $116 million for Food for Peace foreign food aid, and $94 million for opioid enforcement and surveillance at FDA ( Table 3 ).

In the regular portion of the appropriations for agencies, the Consolidated Appropriations Act increases agricultural research spending by $138 million over four agencies (including increasing the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative by $25 million to $400 million, and increasing buildings and facilities funding by $41 million for the Agricultural Research Service). It also increases the base amount for Food for Peace by $134 million to $1.6 billion.

Unlike the practice from more than the past decade, the FY2018 Agriculture appropriation does not impose as many changes to mandatory program spending (CHIMPS), such as to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program, or rescissions to the Rural Development cushion of credit account or to Section 32. The absence of these usual CHIMPS in the FY2018 Agriculture appropriation costs about $740 million against the discretionary limit of the bill compared to FY2017.

Table 3 presents the amounts in the FY2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act by agency and many programs, compared to the House-passed, Senate-reported, and Administration proposals. It also compares the FY2018 appropriation to three prior years, FY2015-FY2017.

Appendix A. Budget Sequestration

Sequestration is a process of automatic, largely across-the-board reductions that permanently cancel mandatory and/or discretionary budget authority. Sequestration is triggered as a budget enforcement mechanism when federal spending would exceed statutory budget goals. Sequestration is currently authorized in the BCA ( P.L. 112-25 ) for discretionary spending through FY2021 and for mandatory spending through FY2027, as amended by subsequent acts and explained below.

Besides FY2013—when the timing of appropriations and the first year of sequestration resulted in triggering sequestration on discretionary spending—Bipartisan Budget Acts in 2013, 2015, and 2018 ( P.L. 113-67 , P.L. 114-74 , and P.L. 115-123 , respectively) have avoided sequestration on discretionary spending. These acts raised the discretionary budget caps that were placed in statute by the BCA and allowed Congress to enact larger appropriations than were allowed under the BCA. Sequestration, however, continues to apply to certain accounts of mandatory spending and is not avoided by the Bipartisan Budget Acts ( Table A-1 ).

The original FY2021 sunset on the sequestration of mandatory accounts has been extended four times to pay for avoiding sequestration of discretionary spending in the near term or as a general budgetary offset for other bills:

1. Congress extended the duration of mandatory sequestration by two years (until FY2023) as an offset in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. 2. Congress extended it by another year (until FY2024) to maintain retirement benefits for certain military personnel ( P.L. 113-82 ). 3. Congress extended sequestration on nonexempt mandatory accounts another year (until FY2025) as an offset in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. 4. Congress extended sequestration on nonexempt mandatory accounts by another two years (until FY2027) as an offset in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-123 Division C, Section 30101(c)).

Some farm bill mandatory programs are exempt from sequestration. The nutrition programs and the Conservation Reserve Program are statutorily exempt, and some prior legal obligations in crop insurance and the farm commodity programs may be exempt as determined by OMB. Generally speaking, the experience since FY2013 is that OMB has ruled that most of crop insurance is exempt from sequestration, while the farm commodity programs, disaster assistance, and most conservation programs have been subject to it.

For example, under the 2014 farm bill, the first farm commodity program payments began to be paid in October 2015, and USDA indicated that they would be subject to the 6.8% reduction that was applicable to FY2016.

Thus, sequestration on nonexempt mandatory accounts continues in FY2018. Nonexempt mandatory spending in agriculture accounts are reduced by a 6.6% sequestration rate and thus are paid at 93.4% of what they would have otherwise provided. This results in a reduction of about $1.3 billion less than what would have been authorized from mandatory agriculture accounts in FY2018.

Table A-1 shows the rates of sequestration that have been announced so far and the total amounts of budget authority that have been cancelled from accounts in the Agriculture appropriations bill. Table A-2 provides additional detail at the account level for sequestration on mandatory accounts within the jurisdiction of Agriculture appropriations.

Appendix B. Action on Agriculture Appropriations