12/16/2013
Farm insurance bill delayed to January
The new U.S. farm bill is already a year behind schedule so what's one more month? Negotiators said that the work for the legislation to cut food stamps for the poor and expand crop insurance for farmers won't be completed prior to Congress adjourning for the year. This farm bill will cover topics from farm exports and food aid to crop subsidies.
The delay is nothing new for the farm bill. Since mid-2012 Congress has asked for massive cuts in the food stamp program. The House is asking for the largest amount of cut with a $40 billion cut over the course of the next ten years. The Senate is a little more liberal with a recommended cut of $4.5 billion.
According to Insurance Journal,
“We will be ready to vote in January,” Debbie Stabenow, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, told reporters."
Many components of the farm bill are up in the air, including food stamps.
The Proposal
The new farm bill would spend some $500 billion over five years, three-quarters of it on food stamps.
Specifically, the Insurance Journal reports,
"Both chambers would trim spending on traditional farm subsidies, conservation programs and food stamps, while expanding outlays for crop insurance by up to 10 percent. One crop insurance proposal would assure grain and soybean growers of up to 90 percent of average revenue from a crop."
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