The 2018 Farm Bill that includes expanded safety-net programs for farmers could be voted on as early as Wednesday or Thursday after joint House-Senate negotiators released the final version of the legislation. The $867 billion bill follows many months of tense negotiations in conference committee and bickering over work requirement changes for food stamps.
The compromise farm bill filed late Monday by negotiators is seen as important at a time when farmers are reeling from low commodity prices and the U.S.-China trade war. The bill expands export opportunities for farmers by providing an additional $500 million in permanent funding over the next decade to help find new foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products.
“America’s farmers and ranchers are weathering the fifth year of severe recession, so passing a farm bill this week that strengthens the farm safety net is vitally important,” House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, said in a statement.
The massive bill left out the controversial stricter work requirements sought by House Republicans for people getting food stamps, or participants in the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Democrats opposed adding the tougher work requirements that would have cut or reduced benefits for more than 2 million people.
The farm bill is expected to cost $867 billion over 10 years, with the lion’s share of the wide-ranging bill’s funding devoted to programs such as SNAP.
The new farm bill reauthorizes key safety-nets for agricultural producers, including federal crop insurance and farm commodity programs that provide a floor price and income support for covered commodities and farmers. It also expands crop insurance coverage to new crops including fruits, vegetables, hops and barley.
Another key provision is the bill’s legalization of cultivated industrial hemp, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture serving a regulatory czar in developing that crop.