The farm bill has been extended for another year as part of legislation re-opening the federal government.

Responses from agricultural groups and policy experts have ranged from applause to subdued relief. With three years of extensions rather than a new five-year policy, some are concerned about the future of the farm bill and long-standing USDA programs.

"The most prominent and possibly the most concerning program in this kind of limbo state of annual extensions is the Conservation Reserve Program, the CRP, which has been the backbone of conservation since 1985," said Jonathan Coppess, associate professor of agricultural policy at the University of Illinois.

CRP provides annual rental fees to farmers who take vulnerable land out of row crop production to reduce soil erosion, impro

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