Measuring Farm Policy, Part 3: Year One with Inflation Reduction Act Funding

The month of March opens with hope and reality for Farm Bill reauthorization seeming to collide much like the alternating weather patterns of the transition from winter to spring (see e.g., Stein, March 2, 2015; Farmers Almanac, January 25, 2024). Whether the winter of impasse—the product of unspecified demands combined with Congressional dysfunction—can give way to a productive spring season on Capitol Hill remains uncertain at best (Barnett, March 5, 2024; Clayton, March 5, 2024; Hanrahan, February 28, 2024; Downs, February 26, 2024). Unlike the weather, the legislative calendar does not become more favorable with the passage of days into spring and then summer; the future climate for the Farm Bill may become more unfavorable still. On the bright side, farmers have received a fiscal year’s worth of the additional investments in conservation from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and this article measures that first year under the combined funding.