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WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators completed work on a new five-year $500 billion farm bill Monday, bringing closer to an end more than two years of struggles over the much-delayed legislation.
The farm bill would save an estimated $24 billion over 10 years, with about a third of the spending cuts coming from the popular food stamp program. The proposed legislation also would mark the end of $5 billion in annual direct payments, increase the number of crop insurance programs available to farmers and require farmers to follow conservation compliance measures to receive subsidies.
The 41 House and Senate lawmakers on the conference committee completed the legislation Monday, with the bill expected to advance to a vote in the full House Wednesday. The Senate could act as soon as next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday that the farm bill is one of his top priorities.
Craig Hill, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, said a farm bill is "desperately needed" to provide a stable source of funding for nutrition programs and give agriculture producers a strong
safety net while allowing them to more easily make long-term plans.
Read more @: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/27/farm-bill-deal/4947383/
Now im glad they finally passed a bill on this much needed issue i however disagree with cutting SNAP. So pretty much a two edged sword.