House passes new Farm Bill

The House of Representatives passed a new Farm Bill on Jan. 29.

The bill authorizes almost $1 trillion in spending on farm subsidies and other programs. It also cuts food stamps by about one percent and ends a direct subsidy to farmers. The New York Times is reporting that the bill should cut about $16.6 billion in federal spending over the next 10 years.

The bill passed by a vote of 251-166, a mostly bi-partisan vote. The Senate will vote on the bill later this week. The Chicago Tribune reports that the Senate decision could come as early as Thursday.

The Farm Bill, lobbied for aggressively by SAF, AmericanHort and others in the specialty crop industry, contains a significant continued federal investment in programs that benefit floriculture. These include pest and disease prevention and mitigation efforts, block grants to help market floral products, research funding to address priority challenges through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) and the National Clean Plant Network designed to help reduce the incidence and spread of pests and diseases

For more information on the Farm Bill check out the Hill's website. To see the bill itself, which clocks in at more than 950 pages, click here.