House Version of the Farm Bill Unveiled

By CnAgri2012-07-06 13:30:29 Print

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson released a discussion draft of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act on Thursday, essentially its version of the 2012 Farm Bill. According to Pork Magazine, the lawmakers say 'FARRM' is a bipartisan bill that 搒aves taxpayers billions, reduces the nation's deficit, and repeals outdated policies while reforming, streamlining, and consolidating others.?It does cut $35 billion in related programs.

Lucas and Peterson say the draft is the product of a two-year process that looked at all policies under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Agriculture. The legislation cuts spending, reduces the size of government, and makes common-sense reforms to agricultural policy, according to a release.

"Our efforts over the past two years have resulted in reform-minded, fiscally responsible policy that is equitable for farmers and ranchers in all regions and will lead to improved program delivery," Lucas says. "This bill is an investment in production agriculture and rural America. Those of us in the agriculture community are quick to point out that our producers provide us with the safest, most abundant, most affordable food and fiber supply in the history of the world. This legislation is a commitment to maintaining that tradition."

The Senate has passed its version of the 2012 Farm Bill, and will have to wait for the House to do the same before the legislation will move to the joint committee for a final workup. The 2008 Farm Bill is set to expire as of Sept. 30.

Peterson says Congress needs to complete work on the 2012 Farm Bill before the current bill expires to safeguard one of the few bright spots of the fragile U.S. economy.