The House GOP released its budget this week, calling for $10 billion in spending cuts to agricultural programs through the next ten years. However, Politico’s Morning Agriculture Report says the plan doesn’t necessarily say how to go about getting to that number. It does recommend reigning in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program spending by promoting “state flexibility,” but it doesn’t go into any further detail on how to do that. While agriculture won’t be happy with the spending squeeze given that farm income is down so sharply, the $10 billion is actually much lower than the $70 billion initially proposed. Politico says it now appears that House Ag Chair Conaway will be given the flexibility he’ll need to write a farm bill. The wiggle room in putting the farm bill together will likely make it a lot easier for the House and Senate to get on the same page when it comes to putting the nation’s farm programs together.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.