Boozman Targets Year-End Passage of Five-Year Farm Bill

Arkansas farmers stand to receive nearly $1 billion through improved safety net programs, and Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) says a comprehensive five-year farm bill building on those gains can be signed into law by the end of the year.

Speaking as keynote at the Future of Arkansas Agriculture & Beyond speaker series, hosted by the Fryar Price Risk Management Center of Excellence, Boozman framed the stakes bluntly: the current farm bill rests on data more than a decade old.

"Since the last farm bill was signed into law in 2018, circumstances have changed dramatically," Boozman said. "In fact, the 2018 farm bill was based on 2012 data. The world is totally different now than it was then."

That gap between the statistical baseline and current conditions translates directly into farm-level pressure. Producers have absorbed years of economic stress while policy updates stalled, and Boozman said the consequences are visible in equipment lots and household budgets.

"When producers face these financial pressures, year after year, and they see the numbers continue in the red, they have very difficult decisions," Boozman said. "Some are selling equipment, scaling back operations, or questioning whether they have a future in the industry at all."

He added: "We cannot afford to lose the farms and the people who grow our food, because the policies have failed to keep pace with the reality of modern agriculture and an evolving economy."

What does the bill contain?

The legislation under development runs close to a thousand pages. Under Boozman's leadership, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed a bipartisan bill containing more than 100 policies, drawing priorities from both parties and shaped with input from farmers, ranchers, forest landowners and rural community leaders.

The Working Families Tax Cuts Act delivered improvements to the two main commodity title programs — Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage (the revenue- and price-based safety net options producers elect annually). Arkansas growers are estimated to receive nearly $1 billion under those improvements.

"Those resources matter to producers, and we're continuing to build on these improved policies through Farm Bill 2.0," Boozman said.

Negotiations with congressional agriculture leaders on both sides of the aisle continue. "Our goal is to advance a comprehensive, five-year farm bill by the end of the year, and I'm very, very hopeful that we can accomplish this," he said.

How does the squeeze hit Arkansas row crops?

Andrew McKenzie, Fryar Center associate director and Fryar Endowed Chair, said Boozman showed genuine concern for row crop farmers facing margins compressed by higher input costs not matched by higher output prices.

McKenzie highlighted two support measures the senator cited: $12 billion in bridge assistance to farmers, and an emergency waiver allowing summer sales of E15 (gasoline blended with 15% ethanol) to support corn demand.

Lanier Nalley, Fryar Center director and head of agricultural economics and agribusiness for the University of Arkansas and its Division of Agriculture, credited Boozman with bipartisan engagement. "I'm especially grateful for his dedication to bringing both sides of the political aisle together to address the challenges facing Arkansas farmers," Nalley said.

What is the speaker series for?

The event was the second in a series initiated by Thomas Gist, an Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame member and lifelong cotton and grain farmer from Marianna who focused on innovation.

Nalley said the series supports the Fryar Center's mission by connecting research, education and extension. "Markets, policy, weather and consumer demand all influence producers' profitability, and no single perspective captures that full picture," he said.

James Mitchell, the Fryar Center's associate director for extension, said Boozman recognized the Division of Agriculture's stakeholder work and the importance of agricultural research. "It was encouraging to know that someone in a position as prominent as Sen. Boozman recognizes and values the work we do," Mitchell said.

With negotiations ongoing and a thousand-page text on the table, producers watching their reference prices and coverage levels will learn before year-end whether Farm Bill 2.0 clears Congress on Boozman's timeline.