A draft version of the legislation that will drive US
farm spending over the next five years is slated for debate in the House
Agriculture Committee on 11 July, just weeks after the Senate - Congress’ other
chamber - passed its own version of the bill.
The preliminary bill will need to gain approval from the
committee before moving on to the full House of Representatives. A vote on the
omnibus legislation, known as the Farm Bill, has not yet been scheduled in that
chamber.
Differences between House and Senate proposals
The House and Senate bills, though similar, are distinct
pieces of legislation that must be reconciled before becoming law. The Senate
has approved a bill that cuts direct payments to farmers, proposes a new
“shallow-loss” crop insurance scheme, and makes minimal cuts to food stamps and
conservation programmes.
The Senate legislation also includes a supplemental
insurance programme for cotton farmers called the
Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) that is designed to address the US-Upland Cotton dispute
with Brazil at the WTO; however, Brazilian officials have privately questioned
whether the measure will be sufficient to resolve outstanding differences
between Washington and Brasilia.
The draft House bill, or Federal Agriculture Reform and
Risk Management Act (FARRM), differs from the Senate’s legislation in outlining
specific minimum prices for key commodities. It also mandates counter-cyclical
payments, which are triggered when market prices fall below a target level,
rather than a revenue guarantee to support farmers.
The Senate bill included a US$4 billion cut in spending
on nutrition, while the House has proposed a US$16 billion cut, in line with an
earlier proposal circulated by the chamber’s Budget Committee.