The lengthy shutdown of many services provided by the federal government ended on Nov. 12 when a "continuing resolution" bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump.

The federal government shutdown  lasted 43 days, which was the longest shutdown in history, surpassing the previous record shutdown of 34 days in 2018 and 2019. The continuing resolution allows all functions of the federal government to be restored immediately and provides temporary funding for the federal government through Jan. 30, 2026. The bill also extends the 2018 Farm Bill  for one year and provides funding for USDA through Sept. 30, 2026. This is the third one-year extension of the farm bill, since the original expiration date on Sept. 30, 2023.

The legislation to fund the federal government through the end of January allows previously approved Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs  funding and benefits to continue, enables airports and airline functions to be fully functional again, allows national parks and federal offices to be fully open, and restores most consumer services provided by the federal government. The legislation also provides full funding for USDA and farm programs, as well as the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs, for the length of the current fiscal year through Sept. 30, 2026. Many other discretionary federal programs are only funded through Jan. 30, 2026.

Here are details of the USDA functions and funding that were included in the continuing resolution bill that was passed by Congress and signed into law:

• Allowed the federal, state, and local offices of the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Risk Management Agency, USDA Rural Development, and all other USDA offices to immediately be fully open and functional.
• Provides $30 billion in annual funding to fully fund the Commodity Credit Corporation. These funds are used to fund farm program and conservation payments, as well as to provide support for commodity marketing assistance loans that are available through FSA offices.
• Provides $10 billion to the FSA to provide direct and guaranteed farm ownership and operating loans, including funding for beginning farmer loans. This funding is currently very critical, as farmers prepare their financing for 2026 during these times of very challenging profit margins.
• Provides $850 million to the NRCS to provide technical assistance for NRCS programs and approved conservation practices in rural areas.
• Provides $3.8 billion for agricultural research and $1.2 billion for services provided by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The bill also includes some funding for the Agricultural Marketing Service, as well as funding for animal disease traceability and to help livestock producers implement electronic identification ear tags.
• Provides $4.1 billion for a variety of USDA Rural Development programs, including housing and rental assistance, support for guaranteed home loans, and grants and loans for infrastructure projects in rural communities.
• Provides $1.2 billion for various USDA international food assistance programs, such as "Food for Peace", and funding for the Foreign Agricultural Service.

Current farm bill extended through 2026

As part of the reconciliation bill, the current farm bill, known as the "Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018," has been extended for an additional year through Sept. 30, 2026. In addition to keeping the current farm program and crop insurance provisions in place through the 2026 crop year, the extension will also maintain other important federal programs such as the Dairy Margin Coverage program, Conservation Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and other popular USDA programs. The extension will also keep the current nutrition title of the farm bill in place for another year, which funds food assistance programs such as SNAP and WIC.

The extension of the 2018 Farm Bill means that all titles in the current farm bill will be continued for 2026, including Title I, which governs the traditional farm programs that are utilized annually by crop producers. The "Price Loss Coverage" and "Ag Risk Coverage" farm program options that are regularly utilized for eligible crops are included under Title I of the farm bill. The "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed by Congress earlier in 2025 made numerous enhancements to PLC and ARC program options, including increased crop reference prices and crop loan rates for all eligible crops. The good news for crop producers is that the higher reference prices and other farm program enhancements will be retroactive for the current 2025 crop year. Given the changes and enhancements that have been made in the PLC and ARC farm program options, farm operators will want to do some analysis before finalizing farm program decisions for 2026.

Farm bill items in the One Big Beautiful Bill

• Enhanced Statutory (minimum) Reference Prices for farm program payments (The "effective" (actual) reference prices may be higher.). The new minimum reference prices are:
  
  • Corn = $4.10 per bushel (previously $3.70/bu.)
  • Soybeans = $10.00 per bushel (previously $8.40/bu.)
  • Wheat = $6.35 per bushel (previously $5.50/bu.)
• Effective reference prices calculated at 88% of the five-year "Olympic average" market year average price. (previously was 85%.)
• The ARC-CO Benchmark Revenue will continue to be the 5-year "olympic ave."
• The use of "trend-adjusted" RMA yields for BM calculations will continue.
• ARC-CO guarantee will be 90% of the BM Revenue. (previously was 86%).
• The maximum payment ARC-CO payment rate will be 12% of the BM Revenue. (previously was 10%.)
• ARC-CO payments will occur at 78 to 90% of the BM Revenue. Previously, payments occurred at 76 to 86% of BM Revenue.
• The payment limit for farm program payments will increase to $155,000 per qualified individual or entity. Previously was $125,000 per person.
• An additional 30 million crop base acres will be allowed to be added for farm program payment eligibility. FSA will be providing more details on the added base acres very soon.
• Supplemental Crop Option crop insurance coverage will be available with both the PLC & ARC-CO programs. Previously, SCO was only available with PLC.
• Farmers enrolled in the farm program will receive the higher of the PLC or ARC-CO program option, regardless of their program choice for 2025 only.