| CNN | - |
Washington
(CNN) -- It may be the most overlooked mega-bill of the past 12 months.
The nearly $1 trillion farm bill received final approval on Tuesday
from the Senate, which sent the compromise already passed by the House
to President Barack Obama to be ...
5 things the farm bill will mean for you
updated 4:04 PM EST, Tue February 4, 2014
'This is an investment in rural America'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: The Senate passes the nearly $1 trillion farm bill on Tuesday
- It sets five years of eating and farming policy in the United States
- It cuts the food stamp program and increases spending on farmers markets
- Continued subsidies ensure corn remains one of the country's most reliable sources of food
The nearly $1 trillion
farm bill received final approval on Tuesday from the Senate, which sent
the compromise already passed by the House to President Barack Obama to
be signed into law.
While it's called the
farm bill, in truth, it's more of a food bill. It sets five years of
eating and farming policy in the United States, including what we grow,
what you know about your dinner and how much government spends in the
process. It cuts the food stamp program and increases spending on
farmers markets. Whatever you think of Congress, this is a bill that
deserves some attention.
Here's five lesser-known things the farm bill could mean to you:
1. You will know a lot more about your meat:
How much do you know about the chicken breast you just bought? Or that
ribeye? This farm bill marks a major decision in the fierce fight over
product labeling, by backing a new requirement that pork, chicken or
beef sold in the United States must include details on where the animal
was born, slaughtered and processed.
What's in the trillion-dollar farm bill?
Take a look at a package
of meat in the store tonight and you'll see it. That information has
been on labels since the fall. But Canadian and Mexican meat producers
have fought the new U.S. labeling rule in world courts and furiously
tried to have it reversed by the farm bill. In the final days of
negotiations, lawmakers decided to keep the meat labeling rule. So if
your meat is from the U.S. or if it was ever handled in Mexico, Canada
or Australia, you'll know.
2. Farmers will see less risk; federal government takes on more:
The bill dramatically changes 82 years of agricultural subsidies,
ending guaranteed payments that farmers receive regardless of their
harvest quality or crop prices. But, because those "direct payments"
have been in place for generations, many farm values became based on the
expectation of government dollars. Ending them could have wide-ranging
effects.
To try and mitigate the
hit, the farm bill beefs up a different kind of subsidy -- a subsidy for
crop insurance. This is complex, but in short, the government will make
crop insurance cheaper and it will pay out some benefits at lower
levels than previously. That will make farming less risky for some. But
it transfers that risk to the federal government, which could be even
more on tap if crop prices plummet or if a disaster hits. Good for
farmers, risky for the deficit.
3. Lawmakers aren't disclosing something:
Just like any farmer, members of Congress who own farmland can receive
the crop insurance subsidies we talked about above. This can
significantly cut premiums and save a bundle of money. The Republican
House initially thought it was a good idea to know who in Congress would
benefit from those subsidies and the original version of the bill
included a requirement that lawmakers disclose if they or anyone in
their immediate family receive the government help. But the Senate did
not include the provision and in the end the House and Senate agreed to
drop it.
Lawmakers could have
opted for a higher standard of transparency either for themselves or for
everyone receiving these subsidies, but instead the public will have no
way of discovering where this money flows.
4. We have land problems: The
race to scoop up recent farming profits, especially in corn, has led to
increased plowing of virgin lands in the United States. At the same
time, rural areas face more soil erosion and other issues from land that
has been worked for generations. The farm bill does something new on
both issues. It forces farmers who want subsidies to follow a series of
conservation practices. And it aims to protect more prairie land by
cutting subsidies in half for people who farm on some virgin sod.
Environmentalists have
applauded the provisions, but aren't doing back flips. They note that
the bill cuts direct spending on government conservation programs
overall.
5. What goes in your body -- corn and sushi:
The farm bill decides which crops the U.S. government wants to
encourage or protect. It gives incentives to grow more of them. The most
subsidized crops in this (and in most farm bills of the past) are the
so-called "row crops," things like wheat, soy, and the king of American
agriculture, corn.
These subsidies are one
reason corn will remain one of the country's most reliable sources of
food, from cattle feed to soda sweetener. The green and yellow vegetable
will be a major part of your life for the foreseeable future. At the
same time, this bill adds a few new winners to the list of subsidized
row crops, among them sushi rice. If sushi rice prices fall too low, the
government will now make up the difference. The possible result of
that? More farmers will consider planting the crop. And there will
likely be more American sushi rice to go around.
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