The Senate is back from recess and is expected to pass the farm bill this week, legislation that sets agricultural policy and funding levels for food stamps.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cost taxpayers $963 billion over the next 10 years. About 80 percent of this money will go to nutrition assistance programs, such as food stamps, for the needy. The rest of the money will pay for other provisions, primarily crop insurance subsidies for farmers as well as conservation, renewable energy and other agriculture programs.
The biggest change in this farm bill from years past is the elimination of the direct payments that the federal government gives to farmers, even during times of successful crop yields. This bill instead transitions to a risk management system that supports farmers only when they are hurt by weather disasters or fluctuating commodity prices.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who co-authored the bill, said that the farm bill will reduce the deficit while at the same time create jobs.
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