After months of struggle to see the light of day, the nearly $1 trillion farm bill passed the Senate 68-32 Tuesday, ending a $5 billion annual crop-subsidy program that now relies on insurance as the main form of farm aid. President Barack Obama said he will sign the bill, which the House already passed.
The farm bill, which reads more like a food bill, according to aCNN report by Lisa Desjardins, sets five years of eating and farming policy in the U.S., “including what we grow, what you know about your dinner and how much government spends in the process.”The farm bill calls for $956.4 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, $16.6 billion less than the current plan. The bill also cuts food-stamp spending by $8.6 billion over 10 years, though additions to other programs bring nutrition-aid cuts down to $8 billion, according to an article by Alan Bjerga of Bloomberg Business Week.
“Total savings from the bill will be $23 billion over 10 years, higher than the budget-office estimate, after automatic cuts in all federal spending tied to an earlier budget deal are included, according to agriculture committee staff,” reads the report. “The bill ends the possibility, for at least five years, of U.S. farm policies reverting to a 1949 law that would potentially double milk prices.” PD
—Summarized by PD staff from cites sources
