US Congressional negotiators reach deal on farm bill

U.S. House and Senate agricultural leaders on Monday reached a bipartisan agreement on a new five-year farm bill, a step closer to wrap up the long-delayed legislation for the U.S. agriculture and food policy. "Today's bipartisan agreement puts us on the verge of enacting a five-year farm bill that saves taxpayers billions, eliminates unnecessary subsidies, creates a more effective farm safety net and helps farmers and businesses create jobs," Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the Senate Agricultural Committee, said in a statement. "We never wavered in our commitment to enacting a five-year, comprehensive farm bill. I ask my colleague to join me in supporting its passage," said Frank Lucas, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. The agreement came after lawmakers spent weeks settling partisan differences over spending cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, and other controversial issues contained in earlier House and Senate legislation. The Democratic-led Senate last June passed a farm bill cutting food stamps spending by only 400 million dollars a year, while the Republic-controlled House in September passed a legislation demanding a bigger reduction of 4 billion dollars a year. The proposed bipartisan bill would cut annual spending on food stamps by 800 million dollars. "Savings in this section are reached without removing anyone from the SNAP program, and will ensure that every person receives the benefits they are intended to get under the current rules of the program," said the Senate Agricultural Committee. Among the most significant changes to farm subsidies in the new farm bill would be the elimination of a long-standing federal program called direct payments, which would pay farmers 5 billion dollars a year whether they grow crops or not. The bill also strengthened crop insurance as an essential risk management tool to protect farmers from weather disasters and market volatility and make up for the loss of those payments. The House and Senate are expected to vote on the new five-year farm bill in the coming weeks. If both chambers pass the bill, it would be sent to President Barack Obama for signing into law and become another bipartisan achievement for a divided U.S. Congress after the two-year budget deal reached last month. The last five-year farm bill was passed in 2008 and its provisions were extended an additional year as part of a budget deal in January, 2013.