Farm bill deal reached...

[Hobbyfarmer]

Bipartisan lawmakers reach deal on farm bill that would cut food stamps by 1 percent

Published January 27, 2014

FoxNews.com

Leaders from the House and Senate Agriculture committees announced Monday they have reached a bipartisan agreement on a massive farm bill that would scale back a House plan to make major cuts to food stamps.

The measure keeps food stamp benefits for most Americans, and is expected to cut the benefits by about $800 million a year, or around 1 percent.

The House in September passed legislation cutting 5 percent from the $80 billion-a-year program. The Democratic-controlled Senate had passed a bill with $400 million in annual food stamp cuts.

“This bill proves that by working across party lines we can save taxpayer money while at the same time strengthening efforts helping to create jobs,” Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, said in a statement.

The measure also continues generous subsidies for farmers. The House could vote on the bill as soon as Wednesday

%$#^@#!#$^%^&

Lets ride this horse into the ground.

[KSKid501]

Generous subsidies?!?! If they were so generous, why are so many farmers struggling to keep the farm alive? (Looking primarily at livestock operations on this one)

[Jeff_a_Caldwell]

Dan Looker, our crack policy reporter, is on the case, and I'm acting like I'm helping out this evening. Dan's in touch with all the movers and shakers in D.C., and has started in on what's happening there tonight. We'll keep after it tonight.

• Here's what Dan's got so far

So, does it matter much to you that this may be on its way to us finally being able to stop worrying about the farm bill for a couple years now? What do you think?

[jput]

Counter cyclical is done in the new Food Stamp Bill.    Don't imagine the many farmers who only got that will bother to report their crops with that gone.  Not that the USDA reports are all that accurate anyhow.   Wasn't much anyhow so not much lost.

The crop insurance companies will continue to get their subsidy.  Fraud by the SNAP recipients will continue.   Nothing to see here folks,  just move along.

[kraft-t]

The folks that are so viralent against the subsidized health insurance can make their point by refusing to participate in a subsidized crop insurance program. Thus they will show the public just how serious they are about socialist government programs. besides those of us with highly productive soil types can break the back of the crop insurance industry when they only have high risk crops insured.  

[daniel looker]

Yes, folks, the farm bill continues such "generous subsidies" as a marketing loan program, with the corn loan rate set at $1.95 a bushel. There is something like the counter-cycilcal program, called "price loss coverage." That kicks in when corn prices fall below $3.70 a bushel (as the national  average for the entire marketing year). We'll have more stories on the bill soon. It does make some improvements in crop insurance, which may mean more to most people.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow often calls the farm bill a jobs bill--and it definitely is. Thanks to the commodity title, you could call it the "Ag economist, FSA employee, and the ag journalist full employment bill."  We're all going to be busy trying to untangle the latest "safety net." 

My analysis of the commodity title of the farm bill is here. If something looks amiss there, holler. And let me know what else you'd like to read about. I don't pretend to understand all of this yet. But with the ethanol boom deflating, these programs may be more important than any of us would like to see. And if the petroleum industry succeeds in actually killing the Renewable Fuel Standard for ethanol, we'll all need to relearn how to get the best LDPs!  

[idalivered]

Fox news wouldn't lie!