IN12158 — Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2024 Appropriations

Status of Agriculture Appropriations Agriculture appropriations—formally known as the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act—funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture, excluding the U.S. Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration in the Department of Health and Human Services and, in even-numbered fiscal years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The appropriation for FY2024 is Division B of a six-bill minibus, P.L. 118-42, enacted on March 9, 2024, following four continuing resolutions (Table 1). Table 1. Status of FY2022-FY2024 Agriculture Appropriations FY2022 FY2023 FY2024 House Senate Enacteda Enactedb Admin Request House Cmte Floor Senate Cmte Floor CR Enacted 3/15/2022 P.L. 117-103, Division A Cong. Rec. 3/9/2022, Book III 12/29/2022 P.L. 117-328, Division A Cong. Rec. 12/20/2022 S7819 3/13/2023 OMB Appendix USDA FDA CFTC FCA 6/14/2023 H.R. 4368 H.Rept. 118-124 Vote of 34-279/28/2023 H.R. 4368 Failed by vote of 191-237 6/22/2023 S. 2131 S.Rept. 118-44 Vote of 28-011/1/2023 H.R. 4366, Division B Vote of 82-15P.L. 118-15 9/30/2023 to Nov. 17 P.L. 118-22 11/16/2023 to Jan. 19 P.L. 118-35 1/19/2024 to Mar. 1 P.L. 118-40 3/1/2024 to Mar. 83/9/2024 P.L. 118-42, Division B Votes of 339-85, 75-22 Joint Explan. Statement Source: CRS using Congress.gov, OMB, and agency websites. Notes: OMB = Office of Management and Budget; USDA = U.S. Department of Agriculture; FDA = Food and Drug Administration; FCA = Farm Credit Administration; CFTC = Commodity Futures Trading Commission; CR = continuing resolution. For FY2022, see House-reported H.R. 4356, H.Rept. 117-82, House-passed H.R. 4502 (Division B), Senate-reported S. 2599, and S.Rept. 117-34. For FY2023, see House-reported H.R. 8239, H.Rept. 117-392, House-passed H.R. 8294 (Division B), and Senate-introduced S. 4661 with unofficial explanation. Scope of Agricultural Spending The federal budget treats discretionary and mandatory spending differently. Congress organizes committees around these types of spending and their responsibilities for authorizing and appropriating. Agricultural programs rely on both types of spending. Discretionary spending is the focus of the appropriations process. Budget enforcement is through resolutions and laws that set spending limits. Discretionary spending typically provides agency operations and grant programs. In FY2024, discretionary Agriculture appropriations are $26.2 billion (Table 2, Figure 1). Mandatory spending is minimally addressed during the appropriations process and supports entitlement programs. Budget enforcement occurs during the authorization process (e.g., omnibus farm bills, which follow budget rules including Pay-As-You-Go). In FY2024, mandatory agriculture and nutrition spending is $185 billion. Appropriations Amounts The House-reported bill proposed $25.9 billion for agency operations, excluding CFTC—a $615 million reduction from FY2023 (-2%, Table 2)—and $8.4 billion of rescissions and scorekeeping adjustments, including $5.8 billion from farm loan debt relief and rural energy programs in the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169) and $1.7 billion from limiting the Commodity Credit Corporation and Section 32 accounts. The total would have been $17.8 billion (-31% from FY2023). The bill failed on the House floor. The Senate-passed proposal was $26.8 billion for agency operations, a $292 million increase over FY2023 (+1%). The official total would have been $26.0 billion, $517 million above FY2023 (+2%), without CFTC. The enacted discretionary appropriation totals $26.2 billion, $387 million (1.5%) greater than FY2023. The act includes a $1 billion increase for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and reductions to most other program areas (Table 2). In addition, a repurposing of unobligated appropriations that is not included in Table 2 increases Rural Development Community Facilities by $505 million and Food for Peace by $68 million without increasing the cost of the appropriation. Table 2. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, FY2022-FY2024 Budget authority in millions of dollars FY2022 FY2023 FY2024 Change from FY2023 to FY2024 Enacted Agencies and Programs P.L. 117-103, Div. AP.L. 117-328, Div. AAdmin. request House-reported H.R. 4368Senate-passed H.R. 4366, Div. BEnacted P.L. 118-42, Div. B$% Discretionary Accounts Research, Education, and Economics (Agricultural Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Economic Research Service) 3,676 3,823 4,188 3,732 3,868 3,802 -21 -0.6% Marketing and Regulatory Programs (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Agricultural Marketing Service) 1,341 1,413 1,448 1,355 1,420 1,387 -26 -1.9% Food Safety and Inspection Service 1,109 1,158 1,290 1,197 1,205 1,190 +32 +2.7% Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency, Business Center 1,868 1,923 2,020 1,904 1,946 1,916 -7 -0.4% Natural Resources Conservation Service (Conservation Operations, Watershed and Flood Prevention, Watershed Rehabilitation, Healthy Forests, Urban Agriculture) 1,005 1,034 1,227 911 1,015 951 -83 -8.0% Rural Development (Rural Housing Service, Rural Business Cooperative Service, Rural Utilities Service) 3,970 4,079 4,861 4,038 3,941 3,570a -509 -12.5% Food and Nutrition Service (WIC; Commodity Assistance Programs; Nutrition Programs Administration)b 6,709 6,741 7,066 6,638 7,027 7,710 +970 +14.4% Foreign Agricultural Service (Food for Peace, McGovern-Dole) 2,217 2,242 2,311 2,223 2,297 2,097a -144 -6.4% USDA Departmental Administration and other appropriations in General Provisions 666 578 733 416 545 515 -63 -11.0% Food and Drug Administration 3,317 3,543 3,915 3,504 3,563 3,527 -16 -0.4% Subtotal: Agency Operations 25,878 26,534 29,059 25,919 26,825 26,666 +132 +0.5% Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)c 382 [365] 295 345 [365]d 365 +0 +0.0% Rescissions, Changes in Mandatory Spending, Scorekeeping Adjustments -1,139 -1,061 -462 -8,430 -836 -807 +254 -23.9% Total, Discretionary Budget Authority Senate Jurisdictionc [24,738] 25,471 28,595 [17,488] 25,988 [25,858] +387 +1.5% House Jurisdictionc 25,120 [25,836] 28,890 17,833 [26,353] 26,223 +387 +1.5% Mandatory Spending Federal Crop Insurance Corporation 12,281 15,395 14,695 14,695 14,695 15,484 +89 +0.6% Commodity Credit Corporation 14,402 16,832 10,612 10,612 10,612 12,438 -4,394 -26.1% Section 32 (Funds for Strengthening Markets, Income, and Supply) 1,391 1,483 1,574 574 1,574 1,574 +91 +6.1% Child Nutrition Programsb 26,789 28,456 32,009 31,973 32,001 33,250 +4,794 +16.8% Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Food & Nutrition Act Programsb 140,438 153,861 149,641 121,992 122,133 122,377 -31,484 -20.5% Total, Mandatory Spending 195,301 216,027 208,531 179,846 181,015 185,123 -30,904 -14.3% Loan Authority Rural Development Programs 46,208 46,870 44,874 45,979 45,884 40,465 -6,405 -13.7% Farm Loan Program 10,386 10,652 10,686 10,686 10,686 10,686 +33 +0.3% Source: CRS using appropriations text, reports, and unpublished Congressional Budget Office (CBO) tables. Notes: Amounts are nominal budget authority. Numbers may not sum to totals shown because of rounding. Excludes supplemental appropriations. A repurposing of unobligated appropriations (§778) that is not included in the table increases Rural Development Community Facilities by $505 million and Food for Peace by $68 million. Reflects that CBO scores a portion of the Child Nutrition Program and SNAP as discretionary spending (less than $100 million). Chamber notation refers to Agriculture appropriations jurisdiction. Bracketed amounts are noted for comparison. Enacted CFTC appropriations rotate annually between Agriculture and Financial Services subcommittees. S. 2309, Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024. Figure 1. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, FY2024 Budget authority in billions of dollars / Source: CRS, Table 2. Related Products About Agricultural Spending CRS Report R47560, Agricultural Conservation: FY2023 and FY2024 Appropriations CRS In Focus IF12233, Farm Bill Primer: Budget Dynamics CRS Report R47659, Expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill and Extension in 2024

Curated by CRS — every bill listed in this report's relatedMaterials. Edge type cited_in_report, gold confidence.

• HR 4368 — Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Ac · 118th Cong
• HR 4366 — Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 · 118th Cong
• S 2309 — Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024 · 118th Cong
• S 2131 — Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Ac · 118th Cong