The U.S. Farm Bill expires at midnight, and wheat growers are asking Congress to act.

The National Association of Wheat Growers is pressing lawmakers to either pass a new five-year Farm Bill or approve a clean extension before the 2018 Farm Bill's expiration takes effect at midnight tonight. Without action, federal commodity support, crop insurance authority, and conservation program funding reset to baseline levels that have not kept pace with current input costs.

The 2018 Farm Bill was last extended into this calendar year to give negotiators time to finish a 2024 reauthorization. That effort did not produce a final conference report, leaving commodity groups pressing for a fresh vehicle — or a stopgap that keeps program authority intact.

For wheat producers, the Farm Bill touches every major risk-management lever on the operation. Price Loss Coverage and Agriculture Risk Coverage use reference prices set in the bill to deliver payments when market revenue underperforms. Federal crop insurance premium subsidies flow from Farm Bill authority. Conservation programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program require reauthorization language to enroll new acres or renew expiring contracts.

NAWG represents wheat producers across the Great Plains and Pacific Northwest. Wheat planting for the 2025 crop is already underway in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Northern Plains states including North Dakota and Montana remain weeks away from spring wheat drills entering fields, but producers in those regions are making crop insurance and operating loan decisions that depend on farm program certainty.

What does a lapse actually change?

A lapse does not end farm programs outright — commodity and conservation contracts already on the books continue under their original terms. What it does is freeze new enrollments, reset baseline funding for the next farm bill, and create uncertainty around the reference-price formula that drives ARC and PLC payments. For wheat producers, ARC and PLC elections for the 2025 crop year would be delayed, and conservation contracts nearing expiration could face a gap before renewal.

Where growers stand in the Plains

Wheat grower associations in Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas have framed the moment as one of the most consequential farm policy deadlines in recent years. The combination of lower cash wheat bids, elevated fertilizer costs, and tighter operating margins leaves less room for program gaps than at past reauthorizations.

NAWG has signaled it will push Congress for either a full reauthorization with updated reference prices, or a short-term extension that preserves current program terms. Wheat growers have made clear that an extension rolling reference prices back to pre-2018 levels would draw immediate pushback from commodity groups.

What comes next in Congress

The House and Senate agriculture committees have spent much of the past year negotiating titles that govern commodity programs, conservation, nutrition assistance, and crop insurance. A path to a conference report before midnight is narrow, leaving an extension as the more probable outcome. Lawmakers also face a continuing resolution deadline to keep federal agencies funded, which has historically overtaken Farm Bill timing in lame-duck sessions.

If an extension passes, program authority holds for another year or two, and growers retain current reference prices, ARC and PLC election windows, and crop insurance structures. If action slips past midnight with no bridge, the policy reset will work its way into county FSA offices and crop insurance providers within days — the operational reality NAWG members are working to head off as the clock ticks toward midnight.