The game may have just tilted in favor of a new Farm Bill

Politics and pinball do sometimes have a lot in common. Both can produce surprising and unexpected results. Those lights and metal balls that pinball was known for before the digital age sometimes would make you an unexpected winner.

Politics may do that for all those who want to revive the Farm Bill. Politics has changed the game, apparently putting Democrats in the minority in both chambers. The GOP has definitely taken control of the Senate and appears to be inching out enough to control the House.

What this means for the stalled Farm Bill is not entirely known, but it does give some clues. Farmers and ranchers have been waiting for more than a year for a new farm bill to be authorized. The 2018 Farm Bill, extended for a year, has since expired.

House and Senate Democrats are now reviewing their post-election status and might decide that they are in a stronger position to settle the Farm Bill before this year ends than to wait for the new Congress. To accomplish that, Congress must pass a new Farm Bill before the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2025.

The House Agriculture Committee, led by Rep. Glenn GT Thompson, R-PA, has its version of a new Farm Bill that could become the vehicle for moving forward if it is opened to Senate amendments. “GT Thompson has done a phenomenal job.

He has crafted a popular farm bill that was voted out of the House Ag Committee on a bipartisan basis,” said Ethan Lane, vice president of Government Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s B.