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US Senate Passes Farm Bill Rob Sivak Washington 15 Feb 2002 05:16 UTC 
The U.S. Senate passed a new farm bill by a vote of 58-40. Like the version passed by the House of Representatives last October, the Senate farm bill would spend $73 billion over the next ten years on everything from crop subsidies to school meals and food aid for needy countries. And like the House measure, it would reverse the current phase-out of federal crop subsidies by re-creating a "farmer safety net" of commodity price supports and conservation incentives. But unlike the House bill, the Senate's version includes a controversial amendment that would lower the limit on subsidy payments to individual farms from $460,000 a year to $275,000. The Senate move displeased some farm groups. Mary Kay Thatcher, with the five million member American Farm Bureau Federation, described the payment cap this way.
"Very onerous. It would require that a lot less money be put out …[it's] a very, very restrictive payment limitation bill," she said.
But most farmers support a provision in the Senate bill to limit the ownership of livestock by meat processing companies, a trend that has been forcing many smaller independent livestock farmers out of business.
President Bush, speaking February 8 to a cattle industry group in Denver, expressed his hope that Congress would pass what he called "a generous but affordable farm bill". And the President spoke of agriculture's great importance to the U.S. economy.
"$1.3 trillion of our economy came from farmers and ranchers and all the people associated with raising crops and beef, he said. So we gotta make sure the farm economy is strong. The farm economy employs 24 million people. That's a lot! And therefore when we work on the farm bill in Washington, we must understand that we have got to have a good bill that not only enhances the nation's security by making sure we've got ample food, but by having good agriculture policy, we can help create jobs all across America."
Farm leaders hope the Senate and House will quickly reconcile the differences between their two bills. They would like President Bush to sign the legislation before planting season begins in just a couple months, so farmers can plan their finances more reliably.
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