The Fate Of The Farm Bill

1A

NPR

News

4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

American farmers are being squeezed. Tariffs are raising the cost of equipment and services. And now the war in Iran is driving up the cost of fertilizer and fuel.

And the Farm bill — the sweeping, traditionally bipartisan legislation that shapes everything from crop insurance to food aid – hasn’t been reauthorized since 2018.

Next week, the House will try again.

What’s in the bill and why the coalition that supported it for years seems to be falling apart.

Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's Todd. Just a quick heads up before we start the show. The news is changing rapidly, and things might have changed by the time you hear this episode.
0:08.4	Stay up to date on all the latest by listening to your local NPR member station and by visiting npr.org.
0:24.5	The squeeze is on.
0:29.5	For American farmers, tariffs have raised the cost of equipment and services.
0:34.0	Now the war in Iran is driving up the cost of fertilizer and fuel.
0:40.6	In Congress, a gigantic sweeping piece of legislation called the Farm Bill is supposed to be there to help. It's traditionally filled with hundreds of billions of dollars and subsidies
0:45.2	and goodies for everything from corn to farmed shrimp. It also carries vital food benefits for
0:51.9	poor and low-income people, but a new farm bill hasn't
0:55.2	passed since 2018. This week, the House has been trying repeatedly to get a new version on the
1:02.0	floor. Here's California Democrat Representative Mike Thompson. This is not abstract. I just met
1:07.8	with a group of third, fourth, and fifth generation family farmers from my district who were on the brink of bankruptcy.
1:16.1	That's why the farm bill matters.
1:18.7	The farm bill was finally up for a vote in the House today, and it passed.
1:23.9	The House voted 224 to 200 with 209 Republicans and 14 Democrats, one independent, voting to support it.
1:31.8	Before the House passed that bill, we talked about the farm bill, what's at stake for farmers and for millions of Americans, and why, until now, the GOP House majority, has been unable to pass that bill that so many lawmakers actually
1:46.7	wanted to vote for. But before we get there, oil is one big, big part of the strain on farmers.
1:55.3	Oil makes gasoline, and it makes diesel, and of course, it makes fertilizer. And when it gets more expensive, farming also
2:03.9	gets more expensive. So let's start with a look at how the war in Iran is still sending shockwaves
2:09.1	through global energy markets. BP reported first quarter profits more than doubled from a year
2:15.5	ago, thanks to surging prices. Meanwhile, the United Arab
2:19.2	Emirates, one of the world's largest oil producers, is leaving OPEC. So who wins? Who loses
2:24.7	when energy markets swing this wildly? I'm Todd's Willick in for Jen White. You're listening
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.