Senate, House ag committees approve versions of new farm bill

The next federal farm bill gained momentum last week when the Senate and House agriculture committees approved their respective versions of the bill.

Senate debate of the bill is expected to run into next month, and the House is expected to open debate on the farm bill in June.

“We’re pretty excited. We’ve seen another great example of bipartisan legislating on the part of both committees and their leaders. We’re very optimistic we’re going to get a farm bill done this year,” said Dale Moore, public policy director for the American Farm Bureau Federation. He noted that the two bills have several similarities despite having originated in a Republican-controlled House and a Democrat-controlled Senate.

“They’ve taken some steps to streamline programs and to make some real reform in farm policy that contribute to strengthening the crop insurance and safety net provisions, streamlining the conservation programs [and] contributing a significant amount [toward] deficit reduction. … They also expanded the crop insurance options that producers have, to make sure their risk management helps get them through those tough years, whether it’s Mother Nature that’s causing the problem or market volatility.”

AFBF President Bob Stallman said many aspects of both bills reflect Farm Bureau’s farm bill proposal.

“We continue to analyze both bills and will weigh their ability to provide effective risk management tools to meet the needs of America’s farmers, ranchers and growers,” Stallman said. “This and other issues will be hashed out when the full House and Senate take up their bills and then again when the chambers come together to negotiate a single bill. We remain optimistic that the Congressional leadership will carry on in the bipartisan spirit exemplified by the House and Senate agriculture committees.”

Historically, the farm bill is renewed every five years. Most funds from the bill are allocated to nutrition and food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which replaced food stamps. The bill does, however, include farm commodity program support. The 2008 Farm Bill contains 15 titles covering support for commodity crops, horticulture and livestock, conservation, nutrition, trade and food aid, agricultural research, farm credit, rural development, energy, forestry and other related programs.