Senate Advances Farm Bill that Would Alter Policy; Cuts Affect Food Stamps, Direct Payments to Farm Landowners
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday voted to advance a farm bill that will set the nation's nutrition and agriculture policy for the next five years.
The vote was 90-8. With the vote, the Senate will begin about two weeks of debate to consider the bill and amendments, according to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is chairwoman of the Agriculture Committee and managing the legislation.
The bill is expected to cost about $969 billion over the next 10 years but cuts overall spending by $23 billion. The cuts mainly reflect the elimination of direct payments to farm landowners, which cost about $5 billion a year, and cuts about $4.5 billion over 10 years from the food-stamp program. In a statement, the Obama administration said that while it supported the new farm bill, it opposed cuts to the food-stamp program and wanted deeper cuts to farm programs, including crop insurance.
Among other provisions, the bill would eliminate direct payments to farmers and make expanded crop insurance program the primary safety net for farmers. The government now spends about $7 billion a year on crop insurance to pay about two-thirds of the cost of farmers' premiums. Under the federal program, farmers can buy insurance that covers poor yields, declines in prices or both.
To replace the direct payments, the bill would create a crop insurance subsidy, costing $3 billion a year, that would cover any losses farmers suffer, known as deductibles, before their crop insurance policies kick in.
The bill has drawn opposition from Southern cotton, peanut and rice farmers who say that without direct payments the proposed farm bill would hurt them.
