Farm Bill: Disagreements Over How to Slice Farm Subsidy Pie

Congress failed to pass a new farm bill by the Sept. 30 expiration date, leaving 40 programs without a baseline.

While differences over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have been the most mentioned, deep differences also exist on farm subsidies and other spending priorities.

Specifically, a public standoff has emerged between House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway and Senate Agriculture ranking member Debbie Stabenow. The friction has been driven by a combination of personality, policy and party politics, Politico reports.

At the heart of the current impasse is the bill’s commodity title, and how the farm subsidy pie will be divided among regions of the country. Stabenow and Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts oppose House provisions that the Congressional Budget Office projected would send more cash to farmers in the Southern Plains, including more than $500 million to cotton growers, a constituency in Conaway’s West Texas district.

Conaway isn’t thrilled about how the Senate bill would eliminate a $2 billion perk for rural utilities that borrow from the federal government, a tradeoff that opened up funding for a number of Stabenow’s priorities, including initiatives promoting renewable energy development, research funding for urban and indoor farming, and assistance for beginning farmers.

Disputes between Conaway and Stabenow over commodity policy have taken up much of the oxygen in talks among the so-called Big Four, said House Agriculture ranking member Collin Peterson.

“[Conaway] and Stabenow are fighting over this stuff, and Pat and I just sit and look at each other and roll our eyes,” the Minnesota Democrat said.

Source: Politico