On Monday, June 10, the Senate passed their version of the (now) 2013 Farm Bill. If you want to read the bill and its amendments in their entirety, you can do so at the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry.
No, I haven’t read the entire bill. Nor will I, even for TFD readers.
Among some of the changes in the new Farm Bill, however, included are an end to direct payments, a consolidation of several programs, and support for biotech and bio-energy. There is also an increased focus on crop insurance, and an expansion to that program. Evidently “specialty crops”(which the USDA defines as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture)”) have a new favored status in the farm bill.
Keep in mind, however, that less than 20% of the farm bill has anything to do with farming. Over 80% is focused solely on welfare programs.
As reported in Farm Press, “In 2000, 17 million individuals received food stamps, but by 2008 that number ballooned to nearly 31 million. Now, nearly 48 million individuals are on the program. Spending on food stamps has doubled since 2008, with taxpayers spending nearly $40 billion on the program in 2008 to an unprecedented $80 billion in 2012.”
Now the bill heads to the House, which might be a little dicier. Speaker Boehner has come out in favor of passing the bill, even though he knows it isn’t perfect. Chief among the concerns are the food stamp programs, which have obviously expanded greatly.
The House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas shared this photo, encouraging House members to support the bill:
Congressman Lucas believes the bill will come to a floor vote this week, probably after a couple days of debates. We’re also probably going to see several hundred amendments to it.
For now, the current Farm Bill, which was expanded at the last minute in December, will be in effect until September.
