On September 30, 2026, the 2018 Farm Bill expired for the fourth year in a row. For family farmers, ranchers, and rural communities, that’s more than a missed deadline. When a farm bill expires, it creates uncertainty and halts certain farm bill programs. If left unresolved, it can lead to a cascade of problems for family farmers, ranchers, and our communities.
Below, we break down which programs have already been affected, which could be affected down the road, which are safe for now, and how this expiration differs from past ones.
What’s Already Stopped?
As a result of the expiration, some farm bill programs have ended, as of October 1, 2026, because they do not have authorization or funding provided beyond the life of the bill. These programs are no longer funded:
- The Biobased Markets Programs
- Biorefinery Assistance Program
- Rural Economic Development Program
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has also been affected. While existing CRP contracts will continue to be honored, USDA cannot write new CRP contracts without program reauthorization.
What could be next?
Some of the biggest risks from an expired farm bill don’t hit right away. The issue of “permanent law” or the “dairy cliff” could have a big impact on farm policy if the farm bill remains expired for more than a few months.
“Permanent law” refers to a set of non-expiring commodity support policies set in 1938 and 1949. Each successive farm bill suspended these authorities, but only temporarily each time. Now that the 2018 Farm Bill has expired, those decades-old policies are technically back on the books.
Because these policies operate on the crop year, not the fiscal year, there is no impact yet. But in early 2027, this could become an issue. Dairy would be the first commodity affected, with various crops to follow. Due to the costs to the federal government and likely upheaval in agricultural markets, we expect Congress will not allow these policies to be implemented.
There are many programs, or provisions within programs, authorized and funded through the farm bill that are now expired. Without reauthorization, USDA will eventually be unable to implement a long list of programs including, but not limited to:
- Local Agriculture Market Program
- Specialty Crop Block Grants
- Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach
- Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative
- Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program
- Food for Progress
- Agriculture Trade Promotion and Facilitation, including MAP, FMD, Emerging Markets Program, and Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops
There are also many programs that are authorized, but not directly funded, by the farm bill. The money for these programs comes from a separate annual appropriations process. Many of these programs have now technically expired. Unless Congress extends the 2018 Farm Bill or authorizes a new one – and appropriates money to fund these programs – they will cease to operate in the years ahead.
What’s safe for now?
Some programs that used to be affected by farm bill expiration are not anymore. The 2025 budget reconciliation bill, sometimes referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), authorized and funded several key programs through FY2031, including Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC), crop insurance, and the major working lands conservation programs (EQIP, CSP, RCPP, and ACEP).
OBBBA also funded and reauthorized, through FY2031, many programs that were previously considered farm bill “orphan programs.” The total number of these programs has changed over time. When the 2014 Farm Bill briefly expired before the 2018 Farm Bill became law, there were 39 such programs. Because the 2018 Farm Bill found ways to address the funding cliffs for several of these programs, there were only 19 programs considered “orphans” the first time the 2018 Farm Bill expired. There are now only three of these programs (which were listed above in the “What’s Already Stopped” section).
How is this expiration different from the others?
This farm bill expiration is similar to the farm bill expiration in 2025, but different from the expirations in 2023 and 2024. As explained above, there were 19 “orphan programs” impacted by the 2023 and 2024 expirations, but OBBBA extended the authority and funding for most of those programs through 2031.
The other major difference from last year is that in 2025, farm bill expiration coincided with a partial government shutdown. The funding lapse caused by the shutdown in 2025 led to additional impacts that will not be felt this year.
While OBBBA extended and funded existing programs, it was limited in its ability to make changes to farm bill policy. This is because OBBBA was passed using the budget reconciliation process. The budget reconciliation process is a special congressional procedure used to fast-track tax and spending legislation by exempting it from the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster rule. But under a special Senate rule known as the “Byrd Rule”, senators are largely barred from adding anything to a reconciliation bill that does not directly pertain to spending or revenue (among other things).
What family farmers need from Congress
The consequences of an expired 2018 Farm Bill underscore the importance of authorizing a new farm bill with the policies we need. As America’s family farm organization, NFU is calling on Congress to pass a farm bill that works for family farmers. That means a farm bill that will:
- Build a safety net around today’s costs and markets, so one bad year doesn’t mean losing the farm.
- Break the power of corporate monopolies by protecting and enforcing Packers and Stockyards Act rules and restoring fair competition.
- Let families know where their food comes from by reinstating mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef.
- Grow markets here at home by securing year-round, nationwide E15 and investing in local and regional food markets.
Further Reading:
- CRS Farm Bill Primer: Overview and Status (9/24/2026): https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12047
- CRS Farm Bill Primer: Programs Without a Budget Baseline (6/30/2026): https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12115
- CRS The Farm Bill After FY2025 Budget Reconciliation: Frequently Asked Question: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48775
- CRS Expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill and Extension for 2025: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47659
