The 2018 Farm Bill, formally the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-334), is the primary federal law governing U.S. farm programs, food assistance, conservation, rural development, agricultural research, and related policy.1Congress.gov. H.R.2 – 115th Congress – Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 It was signed into law on December 20, 2018, and although its original authorities were set to expire at the end of fiscal year 2023, Congress has extended the law rather than replacing it. Its rules still govern USDA programs in 2026.
Is the 2018 Farm Bill Still in Effect
Yes. Congress did not pass a new farm bill on schedule, so it extended the existing one. On December 21, 2024, lawmakers enacted a one-year extension (P.L. 118-158) covering fiscal year 2025 and the 2025 crop year, with principal expiration dates of September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2025.2Congressional Research Service. Expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill and Extension for 2025 A subsequent extension carried the authorities forward through September 30, 2026.3Farm Service Agency. USDA to Open Continuous and General Conservation Reserve Program Enrollment for 2026
Both the House and Senate agriculture committees advanced competing reauthorization proposals during the 118th Congress, but neither reached a floor vote before the session ended.2Congressional Research Service. Expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill and Extension for 2025 For anyone making enrollment or financing decisions in 2026, the 2018 law’s rules apply, but a new farm bill could change them at any point during the extension period.
What the Law Covers
The 2018 Farm Bill is organized into titles that each handle a broad policy area. The sections below walk through the ones most people are asking about when they look up this law.
Commodity Support for Row Crops
Two programs form the financial safety net for producers of covered commodities like corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton. Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) pays when revenue falls below a benchmark. Price Loss Coverage (PLC) pays when a commodity’s price drops below a statutory reference price. Producers chose between the two for the 2019 and 2020 crop years, and starting with the 2021 crop year, they’ve been able to switch annually.4Farm Service Agency. What’s New – FSA and the 2018 Farm Bill
Federal law caps combined ARC and PLC payments at $155,000 per person for covered commodities, with a separate $155,000 limit for peanuts. Beginning with the 2025 crop year, USDA adjusts both caps annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 1308 – Payment Limitations Married couples filing jointly can each claim the full limit.
Dairy operations have their own program. The Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program pays when the national margin between the all-milk price and average feed costs drops below a level the producer selects, with coverage levels from $4.00 to $9.50 per hundredweight in $0.50 increments.6Farm Service Agency. Dairy Margin Coverage Program (DMC) Reduced premium rates apply to the first five million pounds of production history, which directs benefits toward smaller and mid-sized dairies.
Federal Crop Insurance
The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation oversees policies that protect against yield loss and revenue declines. The 2018 law expanded the range of crops eligible for coverage and created provisions for beginning farmers and ranchers, including reduced premiums and higher subsidy rates during their first years of operation. Yield calculation methods were also updated so that producers who suffered catastrophic losses from weather events would not be permanently penalized with depressed yield histories.
SNAP and Nutrition
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the single largest spending category in the farm bill. During negotiations, the House pushed for significantly stricter work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, but those provisions were dropped from the final law. The enacted version kept existing eligibility standards largely intact while directing resources toward program integrity and technology upgrades.7Congress.gov. Public Law 115-334 – Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
Under continuing federal rules, able-bodied adults without dependents between ages 18 and 54 can receive SNAP for only three months in a three-year period unless they work at least 20 hours per week, participate in a qualifying training program, or meet another exemption.8Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements States can request waivers for areas with high unemployment. The law also funds Electronic Benefit Transfer equipment upgrades so retailers, including farmers’ markets, can process SNAP transactions using mobile technology, and it supports the Specialty Crop Incentive Program, which matches a portion of SNAP dollars spent on fresh fruits and vegetables.
Conservation
The conservation title funds voluntary programs that pay producers to protect soil, water, and wildlife habitat. Three programs do most of the work.
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pays landowners to take environmentally sensitive cropland out of production for ten to fifteen years. The 2018 law gradually increased the enrollment cap from 24 million acres in fiscal year 2019 to 27 million acres by fiscal year 2023.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 3831 – Conservation Reserve That 27-million-acre cap carries forward under the current extension, and about 1.9 million acres were available for new enrollment in fiscal year 2026.3Farm Service Agency. USDA to Open Continuous and General Conservation Reserve Program Enrollment for 2026 Annual rental payments for general sign-ups are capped at 85 percent of the county average rental rate.
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides cost-share payments for producers who adopt conservation practices on land that stays in production. The 2018 law ramped funding from $1.75 billion in fiscal year 2019 to $2.025 billion by fiscal year 2023.10Economic Research Service. 2018 Farm Bill – Conservation At least 50 percent of that funding must go toward livestock-related practices, and another 10 percent is reserved for wildlife habitat improvements.11Federal Register. Environmental Quality Incentives Program
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) rewards producers already meeting a high conservation standard on working land who want to do more. Despite early proposals to fold CSP into EQIP, the 2018 law kept them as separate programs. CSP was restructured from an acreage-based enrollment system to a funding-based model, reducing overall scope but maintaining its distinct purpose. Both EQIP and CSP include funding set-asides for beginning farmers and socially disadvantaged producers.
Legalizing Industrial Hemp
One of the most consequential single provisions removed hemp from the federal controlled substances list by amending the definition of marijuana under 21 U.S.C. ยง 802(16). Hemp is defined as the plant Cannabis sativa L. with a delta-9 THC concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.12Drug Enforcement Administration. Controlled Substances Q&A Anything above that threshold is still marijuana under federal law.
States and tribal governments that want to regulate hemp production submit a plan to USDA for approval covering land tracking and THC testing. Producers in states without an approved plan can obtain a federal license directly from USDA. No state or tribe may block the shipment of hemp lawfully produced under an approved plan or federal license, even if that state doesn’t allow hemp cultivation within its own borders.13eCFR. 7 CFR 990.63 – Interstate Transportation of Hemp The law also made hemp eligible for federal crop insurance for the first time, with minimum acreage requirements of five acres for CBD hemp and twenty acres for grain or fiber hemp.14Farmers.gov. USDA Hemp Programs for Risk Management FAQ
Farm Loans and Beginning Farmers
The 2018 Farm Bill raised borrowing limits for USDA’s Farm Service Agency loan programs. Direct farm ownership loans currently go up to $600,000, and direct operating loans up to $400,000.15Farmers.gov. Farm Loans for Farmers and Ranchers For producers who work through a commercial lender, FSA-guaranteed loans reach up to $2,343,000.16Farm Service Agency. Guaranteed Farm Loans
Beginning farmers and ranchers, defined as those with fewer than ten years of farming experience, receive preferential treatment across the lending programs. Reduced interest rates, lower down payment requirements, and reserved funding allocations help new entrants access land and equipment.
Heirs’ Property
Heirs’ property occurs when land passes through generations without a will, leaving multiple descendants with fractional ownership interests. Without a clear title, these landowners historically could not get a farm number from FSA, which locked them out of federal programs.
The 2018 law authorized USDA to accept alternative documentation from heirs’ property operators who cannot produce a lease agreement or owner verification, allowing them to establish a farm number by showing they are in general control of the farming operation.17Farmers.gov. Heirs’ Property Landowners It also created the Heirs’ Property Relending Program, which funnels loans through community development financial institutions to help families buy out fractional interests, pay for title searches, cover legal fees, and complete succession plans. Intermediary lenders can borrow up to $5 million at 1 percent interest.18Farmers.gov. Heirs’ Property Relending Program
Rural Broadband and Research
The law authorized $350 million annually for the Rural Broadband Program, along with separate authorizations for the Community Connect Grant Program ($50 million), Distance Learning and Telemedicine ($82 million), and several smaller initiatives.19Congressional Research Service. Farm Bill Primer – Rural Broadband Provisions USDA’s ReConnect Program, the primary vehicle for these funds, requires all projects to deliver at least 100 Mbps symmetrical speeds in the proposed service area.20USDA. ReConnect Loan and Grant Program That speed floor has pushed investment toward fiber rather than older fixed wireless technologies.
On the research side, the law established permanent mandatory funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, reaching $50 million per year from fiscal year 2023 onward.21Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 5925b – Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative The Specialty Crop Research Initiative received $80 million annually to address challenges in producing fruits, vegetables, and nursery crops.22Economic Research Service. 2018 Farm Bill – Research, Extension, and Related Matters
What Could Change
Because the 2018 Farm Bill is running on extensions rather than a fresh authorization, its programs remain vulnerable to changes whenever Congress finishes a new bill. Payment limits, conservation program funding, SNAP eligibility, and hemp rules are all common flash points in reauthorization debates. If you’re enrolled in an FSA or NRCS program, planning an enrollment, or borrowing under an FSA program, check current USDA guidance before the next fiscal year begins on October 1, 2026, when the current extension is set to expire.