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The mid-term elections are in our rear view mirror, and political ads have been silenced for most of the U.S., yet the effect the results will have on agriculture and small business is uncertain. 

What is clear is a major shift will occur in the U.S. House of Representatives, and little will change on the Senate side, where Republicans will keep control regardless of the outcome of two seats still in question.

Members of Congress returned to Washington this week to begin the post-election, lame-duck session. Here’s a quick look at issues that matter to members.

Farm Bill: The chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees say they will push hard to finish a farm bill this year. The bill’s fate likely depends on the energy level among members of Congress for passing legislation with Democrats set to take control of the House.

House Ag Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, R-Texas, and ranking member Collin Peterson, who won a close race last week, met briefly this week. Following the meeting, Peterson, who expected to chair the committee next year, declined to comment. Conaway said this: “We’re still having conversations. We agreed to continue working hard to get this thing done this term.” A key farm lobbyist said the brevity of the Conaway-Peterson meeting was a bad sign for folks hoping to wrap up the bill this year.

On the Senate side, Ag Committee Chair Sen. Pat Roberts will have to shepherd the farm bill to passage—and fast—if he wants to prove he’s still a viable candidate for Senate in 2020.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said on Tuesday he was not holding his breath for a breakthrough. “I have not heard anything positive coming out of the talks between the House and Senate.” Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been more optimistic, promising last week that the farm bill will be passed in the lame duck session.

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, said agriculture needs action: “Given the sustained low prices dairy farmers have faced, coupled with uncertainty in agricultural trade policy, it is more important than ever that Congress quickly enact the 2018 Farm Bill before adjourning for the year.”

Trade: Some believe that President Trump’s promise to quickly pass a revamped NAFTA has been upended by last week’s elections, which gave control of the House to Democrats vowing to withhold their support to extract greater protections for American workers. Some media reports indicate that House Democrats want to be seen as defenders of the American worker and are unlikely to sign off on any deal that does not include changes that labor leaders demand. Administration officials remain confident they will have the votes to pass the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in the next Congress. 

Ballot Measures: Californians have voted to let chickens roam. Proposition 12, which requires all eggs sold in the state come from cage-free hens by 2022, was approved by 59 percent of voters. This comes a decade after California banned battery cages.

The new law also affects veal and pork production by setting new minimum requirements on the size of pens for sows and calves raised for veal. The law requires that in 2020, calves confined for production have at least 43 square feet of floor space, and by 2020, breeding pigs have at least 24 square feet of floor space.

Also starting in 2020, egg-laying hens must be been given one square foot of floor space and be cage-free by 2022. It is estimated the new law will cost the state as much as $10 million a year to enforce, and millions more in lost tax revenue from closed farm businesses.

The law bans the sale in California of products from hens, calves and pigs raised in states that do not meet California’s standards.