The American Farm Bureau Federation argues it is not too late for Congress to pass a farm bill, countering growing assumptions on Capitol Hill that lawmakers will settle for another short-term extension instead of a full five-year authorization.

The organization laid out its case under the headline "It's Not Too Late for a Farm Bill," pressing legislators to keep negotiating rather than default to an extension of the 2018 law for a second time.

Why does the timing matter?

Farm Bureau's argument lands amid mounting frustration in farm country. Commodity groups and general farm organizations have spent months warning that the current law's reference prices and support programs no longer cover modern input costs for fertilizer, crop protection, fuel and machinery.

Advocates for a full bill argue each month of delay leaves growers planning rotations, land rentals and financing without a clear policy baseline for the program years ahead.

What does the extension alternative mean for growers?

A continuing resolution or standalone extension would keep current programs operating, but it would not deliver the higher reference prices, updated conservation funding and improved crop insurance provisions that farm-state lawmakers have drafted in committee texts during this Congress.

Farm Bureau's message signals the group still sees legislative room to move a full measure, and it pressures congressional leadership to schedule floor time before the window closes.

The article itself did not publish specific legislative dates, dollar figures or acreage data, so the case rests on the group's political judgment that a deal remains achievable — a judgment readers can weigh against the congressional calendar.

Whether negotiators act on that opening, or farm country gets another extension, will become clear as appropriations deadlines force the issue in the weeks ahead.