Based on my past farm bill posts, this isn't /r/MP's favorite topic - it should be though! Farm legislation is one of the few complicated issues where bipartisanship is normative and the only points of friction that come are regional.
The 2014 farm bill expired Sunday, ending dozens of programs and putting others in a holding pattern until four key lawmakers either produce a replacement bill or seek some form of extension of the now defunct law.
“All of us regret where we are,” Senate Agriculture Chairman (R-KS) Pat Roberts said after a meeting last week with the top negotiators from the two chambers. “I know farmers and ranchers and growers out there say, ‘What on earth are you guys doing?’ Well, if you look at what’s in the bills you see stark differences of opinion.”
39 so-called orphan programs identified by the Congressional Research Service would lose authorization and mandatory funding on Oct. 1. Programs to aid military veteran entering farming, trade promotion and small rural businesses shut down with the farm bill’s expiration.
Some programs, instead of expiring, revert back to earlier authorizations. Ironically, this is worse than expiring:
Most programs created with permanent law in the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and the Agriculture Act of 1949 have been changed and modernized through subsequent farm bills. But, these changes only last as long as each farm bill, and without a new or extended farm bill, the programs would revert to being governed by old permanent law that might no longer makes sense in the modern world.
Many of the commodities American farmers grow today, such as soybeans, oilseeds, peanuts, and wool, would lose support entirely because they weren’t part of the 1938 and 1949 commodities programs.
It's even worse for the dairy program, wherein the permanent authorization regime requires the US to create a very expensive arbitrage opportunity:
Reversion to permanent law in this program would require USDA to buy manufactured dairy products at about four times the then-current price, resulting in tremendous increases in government spending on the program as well as consumer dairy prices. In addition, because of modern international trade, with its incredible speed and refrigeration capacity, the United States government would eventually buy the dairy products of potentially all global producers.