Wisconsin farmers are pressing Congress to deliver a new farm bill, arguing that the repeated short-term extensions of the 2018 legislation have left key risk-management programs operating on outdated reference prices and payment limits.

The push comes from growers across the state's dairy, grain and specialty-crop sectors, who say the uncertainty complicates decisions on input purchases, land rental contracts and marketing plans for the coming season.

The current law, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, has been extended rather than replaced since its original expiration. Farmers and their representatives in Wisconsin say that stalemate carries real costs. Reference prices used to trigger Price Loss Coverage payments have not kept pace with rising input costs, and dairy Margin Protection Program thresholds reflect a cost structure that predates the inflation surge in fertilizer, fuel and labor.

For a state that ranks among the national leaders in dairy production and cranberry output, and holds significant positions in corn, soybeans and processing vegetables, the stakes in federal program design are direct. Wisconsin producers rely on federal crop insurance, dairy margin coverage and commodity programs as the backbone of their risk management, and each depends on the statutory framework Congress has yet to update.

Growers point to the gap between farm-level cost inflation and the safety net's fixed parameters as the central problem. Fertilizer, seed, machinery and interest costs rose sharply in 2021 and 2022 and remain elevated, while program formulas remain tied to older baselines. The result, farmers say, is a thinner effective margin even in years with respectable commodity prices.

The call from Wisconsin mirrors the broader farm-belt demand for a five-year bill rather than another extension. Farm groups nationally have argued that short-term extensions prevent long-term planning, delay program improvements and leave conservation and nutrition titles funding in flux alongside the commodity titles.

Congressional negotiators have worked through several drafts in the current cycle, with disagreements over commodity payment limits, nutrition spending and conservation funding among the sticking points. Wisconsin farmers say they want a bill that restores the certainty the 2018 law provided when it passed, and that updates support levels to reflect current production economics.

Until Congress acts, growers will operate under the extended 2018 framework, making planting, expansion and financing decisions without knowing the rules that will govern the programs they depend on. Farmers and their advocates say they expect the push for a full five-year bill to intensify as the next deadline approaches.