House Passes Farm Policy Bill That Could Cut Subsidies 25%

The House on Tuesday passed legislation that could lead to a 25% cut in farm programs but would try to make up for it by giving farmers more freedom to look for money-making crops.

The farm policy bill, which now goes to the Senate, also requires steps to protect water supplies from becoming contaminated with farming chemicals and establishes the first federal rules as to what foods may be sold as organic.

The bill sets terms for farm subsidies, export promotion, research and public feeding programs for the next five years. It was approved on a 318-102 vote.

The farm bill’s authors reluctantly embraced the so-called triple base plan in order to meet budget guidelines. Under triple base, 15% of the nation’s wheat, feed grain, cotton and rice land would be ineligible for subsidies, but farmers would be allowed to raise other crops on that land.

Triple base is the centerpiece of a $13.6-billion reduction of farm program costs. As a precaution, the House and Senate agriculture committees made the cuts contingent on passage of an overall bill to narrow the federal deficit by $500 billion.

If the overall budget bill is passed, farm subsidy funds will fall by 25%, to $40.8 billion. If the budget bill fails, farm spending would revert to about $54 billion, and there would be no triple base or other spending cuts.