Last Friday, President Obama signed a surprising bill.
Surprising because it should have been signed years ago…
The Agricultural Act of 2014, otherwise known as the Farm Bill is a massive (neary $1 Trillion) smorgasbord.
It covers everything from catfish farms to food stamps. Here are some of the main points you should know….
1. Insurance. One of the main components of the Farm Bill is a $7 billion 10 year extension of crop insurance for farmers.
It creates subsidies for rice and peanut growers for when prices become unstable. Farmers will be required to pay an annual insurance bill that will provide support only when crops have a bad year. (Previously, government provided a $5 billion-a-year crop subsidy regardless if crops were grown or not).
Many farmers praise the insurance saying it’s a relief and will make farming a less risky business.
2. SNAP. Opponents to the Farm Bill quickly address the cuts to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), previously known as Food Stamps.
Negotiated cuts are around $8 billion dollars, or 1 percent of SNAP’s budget. Most of the cuts are designed to reduce waste and fraud within the program.
No families will be cut from the program, but people in 15 states will see decrease in their monthly allocation. The Farm Bill also creates a pilot program that will promote fruits and vegetables to SNAP recipients.
3. Food Labels. Though the Farm Bill mainly affects farmers, all citizens will see the effects in the grocery store, especially in the meat aisle.
Part of the Farm Bill requires meat labels to include where the animal was born, grown, and processed, known as COOL (country of origin labeling).
The meat industry opposes this new regulation saying it adds unnecessary costs (or maybe they just don’t want to admit our chicken dinner is more well-traveled than us.)
4. Catfish and Christmas Trees? In true Washington fashion, there are some head-scratching provisions in the Farm Bill.
Among the thousand page document, there is a $170 million provision to protect catfish farmers, $3 million to promote Christmas trees, $1 million for weather radios and $100 million for maple syrup promotion amongst many other things.
Yes, these things make up a small percentage of the $956.4 billion bill, but it really makes citizens question some of the government’s spending choices.
It’s a hefty package that is still surrounded by criticism, but President Obama supports the bill saying, “it helps rural communities grow, gives farmers some certainty [and] puts in place important reforms.”
What do you think? Will our farms and foods flourish?
